By: Connor Wachtel
WATERLOO, Iowa – The Mankato MoonDogs (38-20) were defeated 5-1 by the Waterloo Bucks (37-23), Thursday night at Riverfront Stadium.
After the MoonDogs needed just one run to win a game in Mankato on Wednesday, the visiting MoonDogs did not experience the same fate while taking on the Bucks in Iowa, Thursday night.
The Bucks got out to a quick start, scoring one run in the first and two in the second to take an early 3-0 lead. In the fifth inning, Waterloo added one more run to make it a 4-0 advantage through five frames.
The MoonDogs cracked the score column in the eighth just to end up trading one run with the Bucks. Justin Boyd (Oregon State) was the lone MoonDogs batter to register and RBI in the contest when he hit a solo home run over the fence in left in the eighth inning.
The game ultimately finished 5-1 in favor of the Bucks. Hits wrapped up in favor of the Bucks 12-8 while Waterloo also came down with more errors in the game by a 2-1 margin.
In game one of the series, Waterloo’s relief arm Logan Jones (Ohio) secured the win to move to 1-1 after the Bucks starter, Dylan Gotto (Wartburg College) only mustered 4.1 innings of work. Jones pitched two and two-thirds innings of relief work allowing just a pair of hits, a walk and striking out four.
The loss went to MoonDogs’ southpaw John Lundgren (North Alabama) who fell to a 2-4 record in 2021. Lundgren worked 2-2 innings while making his fifth start of the season. He was hit off eight times for three runs in the contest.
The MoonDogs and Bucks rematch for one last contest in the season series at Riverfront Park, Friday at 6:35 p.m.
-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.
