Waterloo, IA – The Waterloo Bucks lost their first game of the 2025 season on Wednesday, May 28, falling to the Duluth Huskies 7-1.

For the third straight game, the Huskies opened the scoring in the early innings. Unlike the first two contests of the year, this time, the Bucks could not mount a comeback victory. Instead, after a Duluth RBI single up the middle, the Huskies never looked back.

With one out in the fourth and the Bucks trailing 4-0, right fielder Sam Finn lifted a base hit into center field to get the Bucks on the board. The Bucks did not score again for the rest of the contest.

Despite the early and often offensive production by the Huskies, Waterloo’s bullpen stymied Duluth’s offensive surge with 4.2 IP of shutout baseball in the later frames. Righty reliever Luke Riggs led the way by recording eight outs while facing only ten batters. Fellow right-handed arms Logan Boenker and Konner Entz each followed with scoreless frames and punchouts in the eighth and ninth innings successively.

With these performances, Waterloo’s bullpen has now begun the season without allowing an earned run in its first 13 and two-thirds innings. The relievers have now gone 12 and one-third straight innings without allowing any unearned runs as well.

Shortstop Will Johnson finished the day as the only Buck with two hits, putting together a 2-for-3 effort at the plate. The left-handed hitting center fielder Trey Butler had Waterloo’s only extra-base hit with an opposite field floater down the line in the team’s first at bat of the evening.

Left fielder Larry Edwards picked up the only other hit for the Bucks and also swiped three bags on the day, raising his season total to a team-leading four steals.

The four-game series concludes tomorrow, Thursday, May 29, with a 6:35 pm (CDT) start at Riverfront Stadium.

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