(Thunder Bay, Ontario) – Jake Schmidt pitched an eight inning complete game, but the MoonDog (2-2) bats just couldn’t put together the right string of hits to beat the Thunder Bay Border Cats (1-3) Sunday at Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay, going down 5-0. Thunder Bay starter Kris Ruepke (1-0) also pitched a complete game, holding the MoonDogs to no runs on just five hits while recording six strikeouts.

Schmidt (0-1) threw eight full innings, giving up five earned runs on twelve hits and fanning six. Schmidt’s performance marks the first complete game this season for the MoonDogs. While the MoonDog hitters recorded five hits, catcher Ben Geelan stayed hot by going 2-for-3 with a double, bumping his average to .429 for the season.

For the Border Cats, along with Ruepke’s solid performance, two Border Cat hitters combined for half of the team’s total hits. Outfielder Steve Boldt and third baseman Chris Curley combined to go 6-for-8 with two runs scored and one RBI. Catcher Danny Benedetti went 1-for-2 and drove in three of the Border Cats’ five runs.

The MoonDogs travel to Duluth tonight for the first of two games with the Huskies at 7:05 pm. The game can be heard on the internet by going to the Mankato MoonDogs homepage and clicking on the link provided. After the Duluth series, the MoonDogs return home Wednesday, June 6th for a game against the Waterloo Bucks at 7:05 pm.