(7/29/06) The Mankato MoonDogs were facing an uphill battle as they headed to the North Shore over the weekend. Trailing the Duluth Huskies by four games in the North Division, not only did they have to face the Northwoods League’s hottest team, but as it turned out, they also had to face Mother Nature.

Friday’s game was suspended due to lightning, and when the game resumed Saturday, the Huskies came away with a 2-1 win. Bad weather returned for the second game, and when it was called after five innings, the Huskies again took a one-run victory, 3-2.

The MoonDogs now face an even more imposing uphill battle: a six-game defecit in the standings with 14 games to play, only two of which are against the Huskies.

Friday’s game was scoreless in the fourth inning when incliment weather arrived, but the Huskies wasted little time denting the scoreboard once play picked up on Saturday. Spencer Ingladson singled home Tim Murphy in the bottom of the fourth to put Duluth on top facing Fabian Gomez, who took the mound after Dan Klous pitched three shutout innings on Friday. Ingaldson scored the Huskies’ second run in the sixth, coming home on Brock Simpson’s single. The MoonDogs cut the lead in half in the seventh on Ryan Addison’s base hit to score James Keithley, but could not break through against Duluth closer Daniel Edwards in the ninth, as Mankato finished with 11 runners left on base.

The MoonDogs jumped out to an early lead in Saturday’s contest, with Keithley driving home a run on a sacrifice fly, and Nate Hanson driving home another on one of his two hits. But the Huskies rallied with single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings against Matt Mossey, who allowed seven hits in four innings to fall to 5-4. The ‘Dogs mustered just three hits against Duluth starter Andy Marks, who won his seventh game to tie for the Northwoods League lead.