Photo taken by Christina Lynn/Eau Claire Express
By: Connor Wachtel
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The Mankato MoonDogs (30-14) lost their second straight game 7-3 to the Eau Claire Express (19-25), Friday at Carson Park.
In the season series, Mankato owns one win in six games against Eau Claire. The struggles continued Friday for the MoonDogs at Carson Park.
In a similar fashion to Thursday’s affair, the Express got things started when they scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning before adding one more run in the fourth to carry a 5-0 lead.
The MoonDogs responded with two runs in the fifth via a bases-loaded walk drawn out by Justin Boyd (Oregon State) and RBI ground out from Matt Higgins (Bellarmine). In the sixth, the MoonDogs cut the Express lead to 5-3 with one more run off an RBI single slapped to right by Adrian Torres (Grand Canyon).
Eau Claire added two more runs in the eighth before holding on to sweep the series with a 7-3 victory, Friday.
While also having the game’s only error, the MoonDogs were outhit by the Express 12-7.
Eau Claire’s starting pitcher was Garret Reisz (Creighton) and got the win to move to 3-2 in 2021. The MoonDogs starting arm was southpaw John Lundgren (North Alabama). He came down with the loss and fell to 2-2.
The Mankato MoonDogs’ next destination is Wade Stadium in Duluth, Minn., where they will take on the Huskies for a pair of matinee contests over the weekend which will lead into the Northwoods League All-Star break. First pitches are scheduled for 3:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday in the two-game series.
-DOGS-
The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 230 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (DET). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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.