‘Chucks sweep Thunder Bay, four-game homestand
Wausau, WIS – In his season debut, righthanded pitcher Devin Skapura (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) hurled a gem to propel the Wisconsin Woodchucks too their fourth straight win, 5-2 over Thunder Bay.
Skapura set down the first seven Border Cats in order, striking out five of them. He finished with six strikeouts and only allowed two baserunners in six innings — one double and one walk.
The 'Chucks jumped out to an early lead for the second straight game. Leadoff man Stevie Mangrum (Virginia Tech) singled and came in to score when Chad Fleischman (Lamar) added a single of his own.
Wisconsin picked up two more runs in the third to take a 3-0 lead. Connor Heady (Kentucky) and Mac Caples (Virginia Tech) scored. With their runs, the top three hitters in the Woodchucks' order all tallied runs in the first three frames.
Dallas Gibson (Lipscomb), Evy Ruibal (Notre Dame) and Brandon Lambright (Abilene Christian) eached pitched an inning in relief of Skapura, and the 'Chucks fell one out short of their first shutout of 2016 when a ground ball took an unlucky high hop into the outfield.
Lambright wound up with the save when Thunder Bay sent the potential tying run to the plate. There were two outs and two Border Cats aboard, but Lambright forced a game-ending flyout to right field.
The 'Chucks improve to 5-2 this season and retain second place in the South Division. Madison lost its second in a row, so the Woodchucks move to within a half-game of first place. The 'Chucks will host Madison at Athletic Park for two games on Sunday and Monday after they return home from a four-game road trip in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.
When the 'Chucks are on the road, follow along by listening to the voice of the 'Chucks, Nate Gatter, on FOX Sports Radio 1390 AM/93.9 FM or by checking out the Woodchucks' Twitter and Facebook feeds.
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The Wisconsin Woodchucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 150 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.wisconsinwoodchucks.com.
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