\n\tThe Mankato MoonDogs jumped out to an early lead and then had to rally late, but came up just short, dropping the series opener in Waterloo by a score of 8-5 at Riverfront Stadium on Saturday night.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe MoonDogs picked up two runs on an RBI double by Tyler Sullivan and an RBI single by Peter Maris in the top of the third.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tHowever, the Bucks came back scoring a run on a Pat McCenzie sacrifice fly in the third and an RBI infield single by Zack Soria in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the fifth.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tNeither team plated a run in the next two innings, but Waterloo’s offense exploded in the home half of the seventh, scoring six runs on a two-RBI single by McCenzie and a two-RBI double by Will Sparks. The other two runs scored in the inning came via a MoonDogs error and the Bucks lead was 8-2 after seven innings.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tEric Schenck-Jablinske brought the MoonDogs to within 8-5 in the top of the eighth with a bases clearing double. However, the MoonDogs couldn’t come all the way back as they Waterloo hung on for the 8-5 victory in the series opener.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tDane Dunning picked up the win with seven strong innings, allowing just two runs on four hits while striking out seven. Adam Dian picked up the save with a scoreless ninth.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tBlake Battenfield pitched well, earing a no decision for the MoonDogs. The right-hander tossed six innings, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out five. Garret Ring suffered the loss, falling to 2-1 on the season while Brandon Zywicki tossed a scoreless eighth.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe MoonDogs and Bucks conclude their series on Sunday afternoon at 3:35 p.m.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Mankato MoonDogs jumped out to an early lead and then had to rally late, but came up just short, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n