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Northwoods Madison Mallards

Early Deficit Proves Costly for Mallards in Series Opener

July 5, 2015 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Madison Mallards News Release


Anthony Gonsolin of the Madison Mallards
Anthony Gonsolin of the Madison Mallards
(Madison Mallards)

Madison, Wis. - Field manager Donnie Scott and the Madison Mallards (3-1, 23-16) suffered their first loss of the 2015 season's second half Sunday night in Alexandria, Minn., by a final score of 15-8 at Knute Nelson Stadium. The Blue Anchors erupted for a 16-for-39 (.410) performance at the plate in the series opener and tagged Mallards pitching with 13 runs between the first two innings of play, an early deficit that eventually proved too much for Madison to overcome.

After managing to escape the first inning after allowing four earned runs, Mallards starting pitcher Nate Hoffmann (Middle Tennessee State) recorded one out in the bottom of the second before being chased from the game after allowing nine earned runs across 1.1 frames. Josh Pierce (Central Michigan) attempted to slow Alexandria's lineup in relief of Hoffmann, but by the end of the second inning the Blue Anchors tagged him with four runs and held a 13-0 lead.

Run-producing singles by Jason Goldstein (Illinois) and Collin Theroux (San Joaquin Delta CC) plated two runs in the third for the Mallards, but the Blue Anchors responded with a pair of runs in the home half of the third to maintain a 15-2 lead. The top of the fourth saw Tony Butler (Madison College) and Anthony Gonsolin (St. Mary's College) produce back-to-back home runs to lead off the inning, however, which trimmed Alexandria's advantage to 15-4 heading into the fifth.

Momentum continued to sway in Madison's favor in the sixth, an inning that saw Bryce Carter (Stanford) drive home Gonsolin on an RBI single. Theroux followed with a solo home run to lead off the top of the seventh - his third home run in the last two games - after which Charlie Cody (Virginia) and Jonathan Quintana (Barry University) each managed to touch home to complete a three-run inning for the Mallards. After seven complete innings, Madison trailed 15-8.

Mustering up just one base hit between the eighth and ninth frames, the Mallards were unable to string together the requisite amount of baserunners to piece together a successful comeback effort, eventually leading to their 15-8 defeat. Jesse Kay (California) performed admirably out of Madison's bullpen in the loss, however, logging the game's final four innings in which he allowed just one hit, struck out four and allowed no runs. Kay's season ERA stands at 2.13 (12.2 IP).

With the loss behind them, the Mallards will turn their collective attention toward Monday's 7:05 p.m. series finale at Knute Nelson Stadium. Right-handed pitcher Andrew Beckwith (Coastal Carolina) will receive his fourth start of the summer for the Mallards Monday evening. Follow the Mallards on Twitter at @MadisonMallards or tune in to 100.5 FM ESPN Madison's play-by-play coverage for updates throughout tomorrow's contest.

The Mallards will return to the Duck Pond on Thursday, July 9 at 7:05 p.m. against the Kenosha Kingfish. Thursday's game will feature a Motorcycle Maynard Bobblehead Giveaway presented by WKOW-TV at the front gates of the stadium while supplies last and a pre-game skydiving and tandem skydive giveaway presented by Great Lakes Skydiving. For tickets, call the Mallards ticket office at 608-246-4277 or visit www.MallardsBaseball.com for more information.




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Anthony Gonsolin of the Madison Mallards
Anthony Gonsolin of the Madison Mallards
   



Northwoods League Stories from July 5, 2015


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