Huskies Walk the Tightrope, Hold on for Sweep of Bucks

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Duluth Huskies

Huskies Walk the Tightrope, Hold on for Sweep of Bucks

August 4, 2024 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Duluth Huskies News Release


The Duluth Huskies stranded 12 Bucks on base, including seven in the final three innings, and held on for a, 8-7, victory over the Waterloo Bucks Sunday night at Riverfront Stadium.

An early lead proved just enough for the Huskies (17-12, 34-29) to hold off a furious Bucks (14-16, 33-30) rally, delivering a damaging blow to Waterloo's chances at the playoffs. It also gave the Huskies a sweep of all four games at Riverfront Stadium this year.

With Eau Claire defeating Thunder Bay before the Huskies took the field, Duluth knew they needed a win in order to keep pace with the Express atop the division. Things started out well for the Huskies, scoring two runs early. Charlie Sutherland knocked home the first with an RBI double, the first of three RBIs in the game for him. Joe Vos gave the Huskies the second run on a bunt.

Waterloo responded with a run in the bottom of the second off Huskies starter Joshua Butler. Butler was solid through six innings, but it was a laborious outing for the Arizona State Sun Devil. He did his job though, and departed with the Huskies in front.

The offense scored four times in the top of the third inning to pad the advantage. Sutherland knocked home his second and third RBIs of the game, Jayden Duplantier picked up an RBI for the fourth time in his last five games and the Huskies executed the first and third steal play for the fourth. The Huskies led, 6-1, following the inning.

The road back for Waterloo started right after the outburst as they scored in the bottom of the third to cut it down to four. They scored twice in the fifth and twice in the seventh. However, especially in the seventh, Waterloo left runs on the table. The issue compounded when Cardell Thibodeaux launched his fifth home run in top of the eighth to give the Huskies an 8-6 lead.

In the ninth, the Huskies walked the tightrope after getting the first two outs. However, the Bucks followed that up by going single, walk, hit by pitch, single to cut the lead in half and put the tying run on third base. The Huskies pulled Ethan Cole in favor of lefty Ian Fisher, who retired Bucks star Lucas Moore on one pitch to seal the win for the Huskies, 8-7.

With the win, the Huskies moved back into a tie atop the Great Plains East division with the Eau Claire Express. The two teams are two games clear of third-place Thunder Bay.

Up Next

The important games roll on for the Huskies as the next, and final, leg of their road trip takes them to Rochester for a pair of games with the Honkers. Rochester sits 2.5 games behind the Huskies. First pitch for Monday night is at 6:35 pm.

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