WATERLOO, Iowa – The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Despite the Waterloo Bucks (8-24) coming off a walk-off victory over the Minnesota Mud Puppies (6-11), the Mud Pups were out for revenge scoring five runs in the first inning, a trend the Bucks have been used to in the past couple weeks.

However, the Bucks would battle back scoring four runs in their half of the first off a 2 RBI single by Ryan Grabosch and another from Raphael Pelletier to cut the deficit to just one in a nine-run first inning. They would tie the game the next inning off an RBI groundout from Jalen Martinez.

The Mud Puppies weren’t done scoring however as they would score six unanswered with two in the third, and four in the fourth to take an 11-5 lead.

The Bucks tried their best with a couple of runs in the bottom of the fourth, but three scoreless frames from the fifth to the seventh stymied their chances.

Late in the game, Waterloo rallied with a run in the eighth before making it interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Two runs came in to score to make the score 11-10 with one out, but Kyle Huckstorf would strike out, immediately followed by Ryan Guardino to end the ballgame at that score.

The Mud Puppies split the series with the Bucks, as Waterloo looks ahead to a two-game series with the Duluth Huskies, including a game on the Fourth of July. Sunday’s game against the Huskies is at 2:35 p.m. from Riverfront Stadium. You can still buy tickets at waterloobucks.com or stream the game free at Watch NWL.