Northwoods Madison Mallards

Mallards Take Opener Over La Crosse, Win Fourth Straight

Published on July 30, 2011 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Madison Mallards News Release


MADISON, WI - The Madison Mallards defeated the La Crosse Loggers 3-2 Saturday night in front of 6,750 fans at the "Duck Pond." The game was full of exciting defensive plays by both teams and with the victory, the Mallards are now back to .500 in the second half of the season.

The win was the fourth in a row for Madison, who now trails the first-place Loggers by only 3.5 games in the South Division of the Northwoods League.

Like the other victories in their winning streak, the Mallards scored first with two in the second inning. Jordan Owen (Tennessee - Martin) and Willie Argo (Illinois) both started the inning with singles and would score on a ground out by Zack Powers (Florida) and a sacrifice fly by Andrew Wasmund (Madison College) respectively.

La Crosse tallied their first run in the top half of inning number six when Corey LeVier (San Diego) hit a sacrifice fly that scored Trentt Copeland (Evansville). Their final run of the night was scored in the eighth as a LeVier single brought home Louie Lechich (California).

The game-winning run came across in the bottom of the sixth for the Mallards when Owen hit belted his fifth home run of the season to deep left-center field to give the team a 3-1 lead.

Mallards' pitching did the rest of the work Saturday, as Nick Sutherland (Minnesota State - Mankato) started for the team and followed up his best outing of the season a week ago with a seven-inning gem. He allowed only one run on six hits, walked one and struck out eight to bring his record to 2-2 this season. He was also able to lower his ERA to 4.50.

Denny Clement (Texas A&M) came on for Sutherland in the eighth, but ran into trouble after striking out two batters. He allowed his first earned run of the season, bringing the score to 3-2, and was removed in favor of Tony Bryant (Oregon State), who stopped the bleeding in the eighth on three pitches. He also pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his fifth save.

Even with the great pitching, the Mallards would not have won if not for spectacular defensive plays in the latter stages of the game. Mike McQuillan (Iowa) made back-to-back stops in the seventh inning in

which he had to leave his feet, and Wasmund made a spectacular diving catch to end the Loggers' threat in the eighth. The team also turned a double-play on a sacrifice bunt attempt in the ninth.

Starter Trevor Teykl (Texas) took the loss for La Crosse after throwing five innings. He allowed all three runs on eight hits and fell to 1-4 on the season.

Both teams had nine hits and committed no errors in one of the most dramatic games the Mallards have seen all season.

McQuillan and Owen led the Mallards with two hits each, and all but two hitters in the Madison lineup had a hit. Owen also scored two of the team's three runs.

La Crosse had three batters tally two hits on the night, led by Lechich, who also scored a run. LeVier drove in both of the team's runs.

The Mallards and Loggers will play game two of their three-game series Sunday evening at the "Duck Pond." The game is scheduled to begin at 5:05 p.m., with gates opening at 3:30 p.m. Chris Lamb (Davidson) will get the starting nod for the Mallards, and Brando Tessar (Oregon) will pitch for La Crosse.

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Northwoods League Stories from July 30, 2011


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