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Published On: July 15th, 2018

 

(Rochester, Minn.) – The Mankato MoonDogs rallied to take their first lead of the game in the eighth inning and held on to defeat the Rochester Honkers 6-4 Saturday at Franklin Rogers Park. The MoonDogs improve their second half record to 7-4 and 28-19 overall. The Honkers fall to 3-8 and 20-27.

Honkers starting pitcher Eddie Mathis (Bellarmine) received a no decision after tossing five innings giving up just two runs on five hits. Only one of the runs was an earned run. Matteo Bocchi (Texas) made his season debut out of the bullpen and was tagged with the loss after giving up three runs on four hits in two innings of work.

Alex McGarry (Oregon State) had another two hits tonight to give him his third straight multi-hit game. Mike Peabody (UC Irvine) picked up his second two-hit game in a row after going 2-for-4.

The Honkers rallied in the second to score all four of their runs. Alex Baeza (Hawaii) was able to drive in the first run of the game with a single to put the Honkers up 1-0. Jaylon McLaughlin (Nevada) followed up with a RBI single of his own to give Rochester a 2-0 advantage. McGarry drove in the third run of the inning with another single. McLaughlin capped off the scoring in the second coming around to score on an error to extend the Honkers lead to 4-0.

In the fourth, Max Wright (Indiana State) got the MoonDogs on the board with an RBI double to cut the Honkers lead to 4-1. Later in the inning, Wright came around to score on the only Honker error of the game.

Wright added another RBI with a single in the sixth to cut the Honkers lead to 4-3.

Mankato made their comeback with a three-run eighth inning. Wright drove in his third run of the game to tie the game at four. Garrett Mitchell (UCLA) drove in the go-ahead run with a single to put the MoonDogs up 5-4. Kenton Crews (Evansville) gave Mankato an insurance run as he grounded out to bring home a run.

Brandon Pfaadt (Bellarmine) picked up the win in relief for Mankato. Pfaadt worked two scoreless innings and struck out four.

The Honkers and the MoonDogs play the series finale Sunday at Mayo Field. Zak Devermann (Illinois) is scheduled to pitch for the Honkers. The left-hander has a 2-3 record and a 4.37 ERA. Nate Hickey (Tarleton State) is scheduled to start for the MoonDogs, Hickey has a 3.50 ERA and a 3-3 record. Sunday will be Bark in the Park presented by Leashes and Leads and Quick Country 96.5. Bring your dog on a leash and you and your dog will receive free general admission. It is also Slider’s Kids Club Day, kids eat free on the Sports Deck and can run the bases after the game. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

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The Rochester Honkers 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 www.rochesterhonkers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Honkers as your favorite team.