Eighth Inning Rally Sends Woodchucks to Win

WAUSAU, WI – The home team’s bats were quiet after a pair of first-inning runs. But a four-run eighth inning gave the Wisconsin Woodchucks a 6-4 win over the Madison Mallards at Athletic Park Tuesday night.

Madison scored four unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Wisconsin meanwhile didn’t land a baserunner between the third and sixth innings. But a fielder’s choice turned fielding error off the bat of Tommy Delgado scored Anthony Valdez and Colton Vincent in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Chucks a lead for good.

Kevin Kilpatrick had started the inning off with a double, before Jordan Schaffer’s double an at-bat later scored Kilpatrick. Griffen Lockwood singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out, and then Schaffer tied the game by taking home from third base on a wild pitch.

Lockwood and Schaffer both made their Woodchuck debuts in the win.

The Chucks are now 10-6 with the victory, snapping a two-game losing streak and staying atop the Great Lakes West Division.

The Woodchucks drew first blood with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. They didn’t land a baserunner until two outs were recorded in the frame, but RBI singles from Valdez and Tyler MacGregor gave the Chucks an early lead.

Madison made it 2-1 with a two-out RBI single in the fifth. They tied it in the sixth with a sacrifice fly before going ahead 4-2 with a two-run homer later in the frame.

Top Performers

Starting pitcher Sean Higgins threw four scoreless innings, striking out six Madison batters. The Columbia Lion escaped three jams with two runners on and nobody out. The Mallards were 0-9 with runners in scoring position against Higgins.

Schaffer was 1-4 with an RBI and a double.

Kilpatrick was 1-4 with a double.

Dante Chirico, Peyton Schofield and Tom Kane all pitched scoreless innings, with Chirico totaling one and 1/3 frames.

Next Up

The Woodchucks continue their homestand with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch against Madison on Friday night. Spend your Friday night at the ballpark and enjoy post-game fireworks presented by TDSFiber.com!

For tickets, call us at 715.845.5055, stop by our front office, or visit woodchucks.com.

###

The Wisconsin Woodchucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 27-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.woodchucks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Woodchucks as your favorite team.