WATERLOO, IOWA- The Waterloo Bucks (30-22) took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning and held on to defeat the Thunder Bay Border Cats (18-32) 4-3 to complete the two-game sweep.
The Border Cats got off to a hot start after Colin Rosenbaum sliced an RBI double to right field to start off the scoring in the top of the first and an error followed allowing another run to cross. Ryan Garcia pitched one inning but had to leave the game after throwing 42 pitches in the first inning alone but Caleb Miley (1-0) tossed three scoreless innings right after him out of the bullpen.
Back-to-back doubles from Brandon Gutzler and Zach Malis drove in the first Bucks run of the game in the bottom of the second. Dalton Hurd doubled in the bottom of the third and the Bucks manufactured a run on an RBI groundout by Drew Greenwood tying things up 2-2.
Jake Viaene broke the tie with two outs in the bottom of the fourth with a long two-run single off of the right field wall. Ben Gilliland (0-3) settled down from there on to pitch seven innings.
Thunder Bay loaded up the bases off of reliever Jacob Nelson and drove in a run on a fielder's choice from Kevin Biondic.
With the score tight at 4-3, Carlisle Koestler (1) was summoned to shut the door and he did so emphatically with a strikeout of Noah Strohl to finish off back-to-back Buck wins.
Waterloo enters a six-game road swing starting tomorrow, July 24 with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark against the Larks in the first of a four-game series.
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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.