MoonDogs Glide Past Mud Puppies in First Meeting
June 24, 2021 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Mankato MoonDogs News Release
MANKATO, Minn. -ÃÂ The Mankato MoonDogs (14-8) prevailed in their first contest hosting the Minnesota Mud Puppies (3-14) with an 8-2 win, Thursday at ISG Field.
Leading the way offensively wasÃÂ Evan BerkeyÃÂ (Cal State Bakersfield) who sported a 1-for-3 evening with a three-run home run and sacrifice fly for four total RBI. MoonDogs right-handed starting pitcherÃÂ Nolan PenderÃÂ (Bellarmine) stunned the Mud Puppies while allowing one run over seven complete innings of work. He struck out seven while never surrendering a free pass.
In the fourth frame, the MoonDogs grabbed the first lead with some assistance from an error. After a single slapped the other way to left byÃÂ Jack CostelloÃÂ (San Diego) got away from the Mud Puppies leftfielder, Berkey capitalized by scoring from first which gave the MoonDogs the game's first lead, 1-0.
After the Mud Puppies made their way into the score column in the sixth, the MoonDogs answered quickly with Berkey launching a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 4-1 ballgame.ÃÂ
The MoonDogs extended their lead to 7-1 in the seventh with an RBI double fromÃÂ Jacob WilsonÃÂ (Grand Canyon) and back-to-back sacrifice fly outs to right hit by Berkey and Costello. The lead moved to 8-1 whenÃÂ Preston CliffordÃÂ (Washington State) singled up the middle to score one more.
The game ultimately finished in an 8-3 decision after the Mud Puppies plated a run in the eighth and ninth innings. Hits in the ballgame were a draw with eight going each way. The Mud Puppies finished with more errors, 2-1.
Pender, who now stands 2-1, threw seven complete innings of one-run baseball, Thursday. Pender gave up four hits along the way while recording seven strikeouts with no walks.
Mud Puppies starting armÃÂ Jack LiffrigÃÂ took the loss in the contest. He surrendered one run (unearned) and four hits en route to falling to 0-2 in 2021. Liffrig walked and struck out zero batters.
The MoonDogs and Mud Puppies rematch at 6:35 p.m., Friday at ISG Field.
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