WILLMAR, Minn. – Mankato’s early offense proved too much for Willmar for the second-straight night as the MoonDogs used a leadoff home run to take a 1-0 lead right away and led by as much as 4-0 in an eventual 4-1 defeat of the Stingers Thursday night at Bill Taunton Stadium.

Mankato improved to 2-0 by completing the season-opening sweep of Willmar, while the Stingers fell to 0-2 on the young season.

Kyle Turner began the game with a solo home run to right field to give the MoonDogs the early advantage. Mankato tacked on another run in the third. Leading 2-0 in the fifth inning, Turner struck again with another solo homer to right. Later that frame, Jorge Flores singled, stole second base and came around to score his second run of the day on an RBI single by Garrett Fischer.

The Stinger offense did not plate a run until the eighth when Logan Allen (Occidental College) hit a one-out double to right field. Forrestt Allday (Central Arkansas) singled as the next batter to bring Allen home and pick up his second RBI of the season. Michael Suchy (Florida Gulf Coast) added a double in the ninth inning for his team-leading third hit of the season.

The Stingers will begin a five-game road trip Friday when they play against the Waterloo Bucks for the first time in franchise history at 6:35 p.m.

The 2012 season is presented by Charter. For more information on your Willmar Stingers be sure to visit the West Central Tribune at www.wctrib.com.