La Crosse, Wis. – The Mankato MoonDogs were downed on Thursday night by a red-hot La Crosse Loggers team by a score of 6-1 at Copeland Park.
The MoonDogs were able to score early, but their offense fell flat immediately after, as they were unable to string many runners together while the Loggers were able to apply pressure on the bases all night long.
Mankato got the early lead in the first inning, as with one out Kai Roberts (Utah) skied his fourth home run of the year to right field to make the score 1-0. In the bottom of the inning, the Loggers would load the bases against Mankato starting pitcher Kolby Kiser (Southwest Minnesota State), but Kiser struck out back-to-back batters to strand the bases loaded and keep the game at 1-0.
The Loggers would get on the board in the second inning on a sacrifice fly. Then in the third inning, with two outs and runners on second and third, an infield hit combined with a throwing error would plate two more for the Loggers as they took the lead they would never relinquish.
Kiser would last four innings, allowing six hits and three runs (one earned) while striking out four. La Crosse continued their trend of getting the leadoff man on in the fifth inning as they broke into the bullpen. The first five batters would reach in the inning for La Crosse as they put three more runs on the board to break the game open.
That would prove to be enough, despite the Loggers leaving 15 on base as a dormant MoonDog offense just could never get it going against the Logger pitching stagg en route to the 6-1 loss. One standout was Ian Culver (Iowa Central CC) out of the Mankato bullpen, tossing two and a third scoreless innings while striking out two.
The Loggers and The MoonDogs close out their two-game set on Friday before the teams match-up Saturday and Sunday for a two-game set at ISG Field. Friday’s first pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.
The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 30th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires, and front office staff, over 325 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. For more information, visit www.mankatomoondogs.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rockers as your favorite team.
