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The setback marked a new franchise record of consecutive losses for the Bucks, dropping their last 10 games.
By: Matt Gruemmer, Waterloo Bucks
WATERLOO, Iowa – Five errors bewildered the Waterloo Bucks (29-37/11-20) as they dropped their 10th straight contest, a new franchise record for most consecutive losses in a season, in a 10-2 defeat of the Thunder Bay Border Cats (31-36/14-18) Monday night at Riverfront Stadium. Frank Rubio (1-4) (Florida) took the loss for the Bucks, allowing eight runs, four earned, on nine Thunder Bay hits along with two walks and a strikeout. The previous mark for most losses was set in 2001 when Waterloo lost nine straight game from June 30 to July 8 that season.
University of Iowa commit Daniel Perry had a big night at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three singles while newcomer Parker Bolt (Wartburg) was a bright spot out of the bullpen with two scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth in his debut. Mikal Mogues (Seton Hall) hit the scoreboard with a solo home run in the fifth and was a triple short of the cycle in the Border Cats’ lineup.
Thunder Bay utilized two early errors and a bunt-single by Matt Batten (Quinnipiac) to take a decisive 3-0 in the top of the first. Jared James (Long Beach St.), who reached on an error at shortstop, came in to score when a bunted ball was thrown past third base on a force-out attempt by Waterloo catcher Zach Fricke (Iowa).
Then, a Joe Gellenbeck (Xavier) run-scoring ground-out and an RBI-double produced by Mogues made it a three-score lead for the visiting team after a half inning of play.
The top of the Waterloo order responded quickly in the bottom of the first when Taylor Boyd (St. Joseph’s) and Mikal Hill (Winston-Salem St.) scored to make it 3-2. Taylor Lane (Florida) singled in Boyd to right field for the first score before Jonah Bride (Neosho County CC) sent in Hill with a ground-out to third base.
After two first-inning runs for Waterloo, Border Cat starter Yuji Suzuki (2-4) (Concordia-St. Paul) settled in to shutout the Bucks for the next five frames. Suzuki scattered seven hits and walked four while picking up his second winning start of the season.
Jacob James (Augustana College) led-off the top of the fourth with one of his two doubles, and came around to score on a Batten RBI-ground-out to give Thunder Bay a 4-2 lead.
Mogues opened a four-run top of the fifth with a solo home run off the scoreboard in right-center to increase the mark to 5-2. Two more errors contributed to three more runs for the Border Cats and an 8-2 lead.
Andrew Muehlberger (Coffeyville CC) took over for Rubio in the top of the sixth and allowed a pair of runs to score on two walks and two hits. Max Dutto (California) and Mogues scored in the frame to move the score to its final mark, 10-2.
After a scoreless seventh from Muehlberger, Bolt opened the top of the eighth and tossed two scoreless frames in relief to close the game on the mound for Waterloo.
The Bucks have day off on Tuesday before closing the series with Thunder Bay Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. (CST) from Riverfront Stadium. As part of the Bucks Summer Reading Program, all 1,000 minute readers are invited to the game and to be recognized in a pre-game parade in Reader Recognition Night.
It will also mark the final Big Buck Cash Giveaway $500 in cash will be given away to fans 18 and older at the main gates with $100 as the top cash prize. Media sponsor 105.7 KOKZ.
Tickets are available at waterloobucks.com. You can also visit the Bucks Ticket Office at Riverfront Stadium or call (319)-232-5633.
Bucks’ games are broadcast live on waterloobucks.com.
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The Waterloo Bucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit www.waterloobucks.com.
