MANKATO, Minn.- The Mankato MoonDogs (36-23) scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull away from the Waterloo Bucks (34-27) 10-4 to finish out the July slate.
The Bucks got off to a hot start thanks to an opposite field two-run homer by Jake Viaene in the top of the fourth but Logan Busch answered in the bottom half with a two-run blast of his own to tie the game up 2-2.
Keaton Presley belted his second homer of the season, a solo shot in the top of the fifth inning putting the Bucks right back in front 3-2.
Ryan Garcia was spectacular as he struck out eight batters in five and a third innings of work. Tyler Lesley (3-1) struck out seven hitters in seven inning in a starting role for the MoonDogs.
The turning point in the game occurred in the bottom of the seventh on three wild pitches from Bucks reliever Jacob Nelson (0-1) putting Mankato in the driver's seat. The UCLA duo of Daniel Amaral and Kyle Cuellar each hit run-scoring doubles to round out the six-run bottom of the senth inning.
Mankato pushed two more runs in the bottom of the eighth and Keaton Presley brought around his second RBI of the night on a sac-fly as the Bucks fell on the road at Franklin Rogers Park for the third time this season 10-4.
The MoonDogs go for six wins in a row tomorrow, August 1 at 7:05 p.m. against the Bucks in the series finale.
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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.