Mankato, Minn. – Brett Newberg (Austin Peay) went the distance tonight and pitched a full nine-inning shut out against the Eau Claire Express. Only four Eau Claire batters reached base tonight as Newberg gave up three hits and a walk.
The MoonDog’s bats were off to an early start in the first inning, batting through the entire order. Zac Wiley (Bellarmine) hit a bases-clearing double to the center field wall to put Mankato up 3-0. On the next pitch, RJ Teijeiro (UCLA) extended the lead to 4-0 by driving in Wiley on a single up the middle.
Jake Shepski (Xavier) hit a single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth inning to add an insurance run for Mankato.
Kyle Cuellar (UCLA) made his 2018 MoonDog debut in the bottom of the eighth inning when he came to the plate with two men on, and drove in Austin Bull with a single up the middle, putting the MoonDogs up 6-0.
Brett Newberg finished the ninth inning striking out two of the last three batters he faced and ending the night with six strikeouts and 91 pitches thrown.
Mankato will play game two against Eau Claire tomorrow at The Frank and first pitch will be at 7:05 pm.
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The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit https://northwoodsleague.com/mankato-moondogs/ 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.