Mankato, Minn.—The Stingers take Game 2 over Mankato in an extra inning thriller. Willmar came out on top in the twelfth inning with a 6-5 final score in the season finale.

John Bezdicek (Southwest Minn.-State) started on the mound for the Stingers. He gave up one earned run in the first inning but kept the Moondogs scoreless for the next four innings after that. Sam Baier (Augustana) tied the game up in the third when his RBI single scored James Gamble (UNLV) from second. 1-1 tied ballgame.

Both teams had a productive sixth inning. Branden Boissiere (Arizona) brought in Ryan Johnson (Pepperdine) from third with a sacrifice fly out to center. The next batter, Justin King (Alabama), had a sacrifice fly of his own that scored Baier. 3-1 Stingers. The Moondogs answered in their half of the inning when two runs scored off two hits and one error. 3-3 tied ball game.

The game was held scoreless until the tenth inning. Ricky Maddock (Central Missouri) came into pitch in the eighth inning. He pitched the next five innings as the game went into the twelfth. Ryan Johnson scored the go-ahead run in the tenth when his single scored Gamble to retake the lead 4-3. The Moondogs were able to score their runner on second to tie the game up 4-4.

In the eleventh, King scored Baier on his second sacrifice fly of the night to centerfield. That one run lead wouldn’t hold as the Moondogs would bring in a run of their own in the eleventh. In the twelfth inning of the ballgame, Brandon Bohning (Northridge) was able to tag up on a Casey Dykstra (Azusa Pacific) sacrifice fly. Ricky Maddock slammed the door on the Moondogs in the twelfth as he was the hero on the mound for Willmar in tonight’s game. The final score was 6-5 Stingers.