MANKATO, MINN. – The Mankato MoonDogs dropped the second game of their series against the St. Cloud Rox, 15-12, Saturday night at ISG Field.
St. Cloud jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning, capitalizing on a MoonDogs error before adding two more runs in the frame.
Neither team scored in the second or third innings.
Both offenses came alive in the fourth, with each team plating two runs. Andrew Purdy (University of Alabama) highlighted the inning for Mankato with an RBI double, trimming the Rox’ lead to 6-2.
St. Cloud extended its advantage in the fifth, scoring four runs on an RBI single, back-to-back bases-loaded walks, and a sacrifice fly to make it 10-2.
The MoonDogs answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Mankato scored on a wild pitch, a bases-loaded walk, and a balk to cut the deficit to 10-5.
The Rox added three more runs in the sixth, but the MoonDogs continued to battle back with a five-run inning. Evan Rolbiecki (University of Hawaii) delivered a two-run RBI single, while Sam Erickson (Texas A&M University) added an RBI single as Mankato trimmed the score to 13-10.
St. Cloud scored once in the seventh, but the MoonDogs responded with two runs to make it 14-12 heading into the eighth.
The Rox added an insurance run in the eighth to push their lead to 15-12. Mankato was unable to rally in the final two innings, as St. Cloud secured the series victory.
The MoonDogs will hit the road Sunday to face the Willmar Stingers. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.
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