WATERLOO, IOWA- The Waterloo Bucks (33-26) find their way back into the win column following a 5-0 shutout victory in the series opener against the Bismarck Larks (26-32).
Deion Thompson hustled to third on a lead-off triple in the bottom of the second inning and was brought around on an RBI single by Keaton Presley allowing the Bucks to strike first. A couple batters later, Nicola Mislinski in his Bucks debut looped a two-run single to right field as Waterloo settled into a 3-0 lead after two innings.
In the bottom of the third, Zach Malis drove in another run on an RBI groundout to the right side of the infield.
Zachary Patterson (3-5) continued to shut down the Larks as he threw five scoreless innings on three hits with one strikeout.
The score remained 4-0 until Charlie Concannon walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of seventh.
Bismarck loaded up the bases in the top of the eighth but Matthew Perea was summoned out of the bullpen and he struck out Scootr Bynum to preserve Waterloo's fourth shutout victory of the season.
The Bucks go for the sweep against the Larks tomorrow, July 30 at 2:05 p.m. from Riverfront Stadium.
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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.