By Jacob Cotsonika

Royal Oak could not muster any offense against the Wausau Woodchucks, as the Leprechauns fell 7-0 at home on Tuesday night.

Both teams actually had seven hits apiece, but Wausau made its baserunners count more. Royal Oak’s base knocks also came with the game largely out of reach. Through seven innings, the home squad only had three hits total. Only three batters came up with multiple men on bases all game, and those were all three of the outs in the ninth inning.

Royal Oak was in this game for a while, though. Starting pitcher Justin Brown (Michigan) only allowed one run on one hit over five innings. It required Wausau’s Keagen Jirschele (South Dakota State) to get hit by a pitch and then steal three bases for the Woodchucks to scratch a run across on him. 

Things started to collapse once the Leprechauns went to the bullpen, though. The Woodchucks scored one run in both the sixth and the seventh innings immediately after Brown got taken out. With a 3-0 ballgame entering the ninth, Wausau essentially put out Royal Oak’s fleeting hopes by scoring four runs in the top portion of the frame. Cade Baldridge (Kansas) hit a dagger, two-run home run that made it 7-0. That was his second homer in as many days against the Leprechauns.

Wausau ended up using three pitchers during its combined shutout. Carter White (Eastern Michigan) only allowed two hits during the game’s first six innings on the bump, Garrett Landry (Stephen F. Austin) got the seventh and the eighth, and Reece Clapp (Bradley) got the ninth. 

The Leprechauns will now hit the road and play eight consecutive road games over the next seven days. The trip will involve a four-game set against the Kenosha Kingfish, two games against the Traverse City Pit Spitters, and two meetings with the Kalamazoo Growlers.

Royal Oak’s next home game will be on Wednesday, June 25 versus the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. The Leprechauns now sit at 10-12 on the season.