Waterloo, IA – Willmar and Waterloo got into another slugfest that took until the tenth inning to settle. Five combined home runs in the game were outshined by Nico Newhan and his walk-off RBI double off the wall in center field to be the hero on Friday night and beat Willmar 11-10. 

After scoring first in game one, Willmar jumped ahead at the top of the first. Max Buettenback came up after a leadoff walk and launched a two-run homer to right to catapult the Stingers into the lead, 2-0. With two outs, Tyler Stull ripped a double to left to plate a run to make it 3-0.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Bucks responded. Two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Mitchell Iliff, who walked in a run to make it 3-1. One batter later, Mycah Jordan lifted a single to right to plate a pair of runs and even the tally 3-3. 

In the bottom of the third inning, Waterloo took the lead. Nico Newhan legged out an infield single, then Iliff drove him in with a single to put the Bucks ahead 4-3. 

In the top of the fourth, Willmar answered with a Tyler Stull RBI double to tie the game 4-4. 

In the top of the fifth, the Stingers took the lead. Buettenback led off with a long home run to snatch the lead back for Willmar, 5-4. Later in the frame, a Merrick Rapoza single came around to score on Stull’s RBI triple off the wall in left to grow the lead to 6-4. 

In the road half of the sixth, the Stingers doubled their lead on a sac fly and an error to make it 8-4 when the half inning was all said and done. 

In the last of the sixth, the Bucks responded with Colin Coonradt sending a three-run home run into orbit to cut the lead to one, 8-7. They tied the game 8-8 one inning later on a fielder’s choice.

Buttenback hit his third home run in the eighth which was quickly followed up by a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth from Iliff that pushed the game to extras. 

After a run scored in the top of the inning, Newhan crushed a walk-off double off the wall in center field to beat the Stingers 11-10. 

With the win, the Bucks go to 7-8 on the season and split the series with Willmar. The homestand continue Saturday at 6:35 pm as Minnesota comes to town. Both starters are TBD.