WATERLOO-Iowa. The Bucks scored 7 runs on six extra base hits in the bottom of the fourth inning and they defeated the MoonDogs 9-7 on Wednesday morning. The two teams split their two game series at Riverfront Stadium. Kyle Leahy (3-0), the Bucks starting pitcher got the win, going 5.1 innings and allowing 1 earned run on 9 hits, walking 1 and striking out 4. Brett Newberg (1-4) picked up the loss for Mankato, working 4.0 innings and allowing 8 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2. With the loss, the winning streak for the MoonDogs ends at three games.
The crooked number put up by the Bucks in the fourth inning started off with a fly out by Tyler Stover but Joe Genord slammed a towering solo home run over the left field foul pole next and the Bucks continued to heat up at the plate. Zach Malis doubled next and Keaton Presley followed with a single. John Cable drove in one run with a double, followed by another double off the bat of Deion Thompson. An error at first by Kyle Cuellar enabled the inning to continue and Jay Schuyler made the MoonDogs pay with a two run home run to make it 8-0.
The MoonDogs started to chip away at the Bucks lead, getting runners across in the fifth and seventh innings. Then Zac Wiley hit a two run home run in the eighth inning to draw the MoonDogs within three at 8-5. In the ninth, Daniel Amaral led off with a double, then stole third and scored on a one out sacrifice fly by Logan Busch to make it 9-6. Ethan Valdez drew a walk and CJ Schaeffer his a two out single to make it 9-7 but the rally came up short with Zac Wiley flying out to second to end the game.
The MoonDogs fall back under .500 with the loss at 14-15, six games away from the first place Waterloo Bucks, who improved to 20-9, becoming the second team in the Northwoods League to reach twenty wins. The MoonDogs will be back in action tomorrow night with a doubleheader against the Eau Claire Express at Franklin Rogers Park in Mankato. Both games will be seven innings in length.
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The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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, more than 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. 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 MoonDogs as your favorite team.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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, more than 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC).
All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
