Written By: Reese Lannon

It was never easy, but the Mankato MoonDogs opened up their four-game series against the
Bismarck Larks on a good note, defeating the Larks by a score of 17-13 at Bismarck Municipal
Stadium on Monday night.

The MoonDogs got the scoreboard jumping early. Brendan Hord (Evansville lined an RBI single
in the first innings, making the score 1-0. That is not the last time you’d hear from Hord.

Mankato then blew the game wide open in the second inning, scoring six runs. Dustin Crenshaw
(Grand Canyon) brought in a run on a fielder’s choice, and then two batters Kai Roberts Utah
made it 3-0 on a bases-loaded walk. Hord then ripped a two-run single and then Ryan Nicholson
(Cincinnati) smoked a two-run double to make it 7-0 after just three half-innings.

The Larks did answer, scoring three runs in the fourth inning against starting pitcher John
Lundgren (Illinois). Lundgren would pitch solidly, going 5 and a third innings, allowing four
earned runs while striking out a season-high ten batters.

Mankato increased their lead to 9-3 in the sixth inning, as Max Williams (Florida State) smacked
a two-run double to make the score 9-3. Bismarck answered with two of their own in the bottom
of the inning, cutting the lead to four once again.

In the seventh, Hord came back into play. The backstop ripped a bases-clearing three-run double
to make the score 12-5. Hord collected three hits and two walks on the night, while driving in
six.

However, the Larks struck right back against the Mankato bullpen. They scored six runs in the
bottom of the seventh inning, highlighted by a three-run home run to make the deficit just one.

Mankato would add an insurance run in the eighth inning, but a two-run home run by Bismarck
would tie the game for the first time since the top of the first inning, and the game was knotted at
13.

However, the MoonDogs would take the lead right back in the ninth, scoring on a wild pitch, a
two-run single by James Agabedis (Tulane) and an RBI single by Crenshaw. Bismarck got two
on in the bottom of the ninth, but would strand the tying run in the on-deck circle as Mitch
Casperson (Gustavus Adolphus) would strike out the final batter of the game.

With the win, Mankato improved to 11-10 while Bismarck fell to 9-12. The team’s play a
doubleheader Tuesday, with game one starting at 9:05 a.m. and game two at 6:35 p.m.