Woodchucks Drop Game One To Dock Spiders

FOND DU LAC, WI – The Woodchucks saw their five-game winning streak come to an end at the hands of the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders in a 7-1 loss on Wednesday afternoon.

The Woodchucks and Dock Spiders will play game two of the split doubleheader at 6:35 p.m. tonight.

The Chucks scored first after Tyler MacGregor drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the third, plating Gino Groover.

However, the visitors could not add on any more in the inning. The Woodchucks stranded the bases loaded twice early in the ballgame, and the Dock Spiders would make them pay in the middle innings. The Chucks left a total of 11 base runners stranded.

Starting pitcher Sean Higgins faced the minimum through three innings of scoreless work before running into trouble in the fourth. The Dock Spiders sparked their rally with four consecutive hits and took a 4-1 lead later in the inning, ending Higgins’ outing.

Dane Miller came in from the bullpen and pitched two scoreless frames before the Dock Spiders assembled a two-out rally. Three runs in the frame helped Fond du Lac pull away with the win. The Spiders are now within one game of the first-place Woodchucks in the Great Lakes West Division.

Top Performers

Jose Izarra helped the Woodchucks turn two of their three double plays on the afternoon. The second baseman also went 1-for-3 at the plate with a walk.

Tyler Kehoe extended his streak of multi-hit games to five with a 2-for-4 afternoon at the plate.

Higgins and Miller struck out two each during their outings.

Tyler Murrah pitched a scoreless eighth inning in relief of Miller. The Pepperdine southpaw has not allowed an earned run in two innings pitched this year.

Next Up

The Woodchucks will play the Dock Spiders again at 6:35 this evening. They’ll continue a four-game road trip tomorrow as they begin a series with Wisconsin Rapids at Witter Field at 6:35 p.m.

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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.