MANKATO, MN- The Mankato MoonDogs scored early and often in a 9-2 victory over the Waterloo Bucks on Saturday, July 15.

The MoonDogs jumped on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first inning on a two-out, two-run single to right by Ethan Valdez.

The Bucks answered in the top of the third on an RBI infield single to left side by Dalton Hurd to cut the early deficit in half 2-1. Collin Floyd (4-0) cruised from there in a solid six inning performance with two strikeouts. Zachary Patterson (1-5) pitched three and a third innings with three strikeouts.

Zac Wiley belted a two-run homer to left field extending the MoonDog lead to 4-1 and they were not done yet. A pair of RBI singles from Danial Amaral and Toby Hanson made it 6-1 Mankato until Amaral added an RBI sac-fly in the bottom of the fifth.

Kyle Cuellar teed off for a two-run homer over the right field fence late and Grant Hawkins picked up an RBI after his breakout performance last night on a single but it was too little too late.

The Bucks and MoonDogs go at it again at Franklin Rogers Park tomorrow, July 16 at 6:05 p.m. in the last game before the Northwoods League All-Star break.

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The Waterloo Bucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate 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 160 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.waterloobucks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Bucks as your favorite team.