ROCKERS ESCAPE ATHLETIC PARK WITH ONE-RUN VICTORY, SMITH-JOHNSON EQUALS HIT STREAK RECORD<\/b><\/p>\n
WAUSAU, WI- The Wausau Woodchucks were one swing away from putting together their biggest comeback of the season on Friday night.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Down 8-2 in the sixth inning, Wausau rallied to score the final five runs of the contest and loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth. Unfortunately, the Woodchucks could not bring the tying run across, as Green Bay survived to take down the Woodchucks, 8-7.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The defeat puts Wausau a game and a half behind Green Bay in the Great Lakes West standings with three and a half games to play. Wausau has lost two games to Green Bay this season by a combined three runs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Woodchucks gave up the first three runs of the game in the second but responded in the third. Christian Smith-Johnson (Texas A&M-CC) tied the franchise record for consecutive games with a hit with a leadoff double. Smith-Johnson\u2019s 23-game hit streak is now tied with Steele Walker, who initially set the Woodchucks record back in 2016. He will have a chance to break the record if he plays in tomorrow\u2019s game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Dylan Schlotterback (Paris JC\/Kansas) would bring two runs in during that frame with an RBI double to make the score 3-2. It was Schlotterback\u2019s ninth extra base hit of the season, and he now has a seven-game hit streak of his own.<\/span><\/p>\n Green Bay\u2019s offense took control after that, scoring one run in the fourth, three runs in the fifth, and one more run in the top of the sixth to take a six-run lead. It was the largest deficit Wausau had faced at home in the 2025 season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Wausau began its comeback attempt in the bottom of the sixth. Brody Sexton (Grand Canyon) picked up an RBI single, and Schlotterback registered his 28<\/span>th<\/span> RBI of the season with a bases loaded walk to make the score 8-4. Then, Max Soliz (Kansas) ripped a two-out, two run single to cut Wausau\u2019s deficit to just two. Soliz has recorded 12 RBIs in his last seven games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Woodchucks added another run in the seventh with a Brody Sexton sacrifice fly to make it a one-run game. However, they could not push across the tying run, and ultimately, the Woodchucks dropped their fourth one-run game of the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While the Woodchucks\u2019 comeback attempt came up empty, Keagan Jirschele (South Dakota State) played a big part on the mound to give the Woodchucks a chance late. The two-way player from Mosinee, WI pitched the final three innings for Wausau, and allowed no hits. He struck out one batter and only allowed two Green Bay hitters to reach in his best relief appearance this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Wausau\u2019s defeat drops them to 19-13 on the year, and tonight\u2019s loss was only their fourth at home in the first half. Green Bay is now the only team in the Northwoods League with a winning record against the Woodchucks, winning two of the first three meetings against Wausau this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Wausau will have an immediate chance to respond tomorrow when they host Green Bay for the finale of the two-game set. First pitch at Athletic Park is slated for 3:05 p.m. If the Woodchucks win that game, they will only be a half game behind the Rockers in the Great Lakes West division standings with two games remaining in the first half. Fans can purchase tickets to tomorrow\u2019s game and every Woodchucks game at home in the 2025 season by visiting woodchucks.com.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ROCKERS ESCAPE ATHLETIC PARK WITH ONE-RUN VICTORY, SMITH-JOHNSON EQUALS HIT STREAK RECORD WAUSAU, WI- The Wausau Woodchucks were one swing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":19311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n