DULUTH-Minn. Brett Newberg went 8 innings and allowed one earned run on eight hits and the MoonDogs went on to defeat the Duluth Huskies 3-1 on Thursday night at Wade Stadium in front of 3,997 in attendance. The MoonDogs trailed in the game 1-0 when Rob Emery double and scored for Duluth in the fourth, but Mankato came back to tie it at 1 in the sixth, thanks to a one-out triple by Zac Wiley. After Wiley was shaken up on his head first slide into third, Drew Fearing pinch ran and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ethan Valdez. 

The winning run was scored in the eigth inning. Rain started coming down at Wade Stadium in a Daniel Amaral lead off at bat. He then hit a ball to right fielder Jake Smith who appeared to misplay the ball on an odd hop due to wet conditions and it was scored as a triple. Kyle Cuellar picked up the RBI single scoring Amaral easily from third and making the game 2-1. The MoonDogs added an insurance run in the ninth off reliever Victor Santana. Ryan Kriedler led off with a double and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Alvaro Rubalcaba.

Joey Gerber came in to pitch the ninth and grabbed his third save of the season, facing five hitters and allowing a hit and a walk. The win improves the MoonDogs' record to 12-7 in the north division second half standings (32-23 overall), putting them a half game within first place. The Duluth Huskies fall to 11-10 (26-30 overall).The two teams will play again Friday night at Wade Stadium in Duluth with first pitch scheduled for 6:35pm