Toledo Earns Second-Straight Win in Dramatic Fashion
IL Toledo Mud Hens

Toledo Earns Second-Straight Win in Dramatic Fashion

June 18, 2025 - International League (IL)
Toledo Mud Hens News Release


PAUL, MN - The Toledo Mud Hens took down the St. Paul Saints 6-4 Wednesday night. The Hens defense held their own early, allowing the offense to warm up. St. Paul wouldn't just call it quits as they kept things interesting all the way down to the final out of the game. Toledo would prevail, however, as they picked up their second-straight win of the series.

While neither team experienced the early offensive success they saw in Tuesday's game, the Mud Hens benefited greatly from the pitching of Dietrich Enns. The left-handed ace got straight to work, saw and seated seven-straight batters, before Anthony Prato picked up St. Paul's first hit of the game in the third inning.

The normally fast ball-heavy Enns saw a lot of success in his offspeed stuff. The Saints looked absolutely lost as Enns would earn a season-high ten strikeouts. With dominant command over his changeup and cutter, five of Enns's strikeouts caught St. Paul batters just watching.

Toledo would add to their lead in their half of the fourth with Jace Jung drawing a lead-off walk. Akil Baddoo would score Jung on an RBI triple, before scoring himself on a Ryan Kreidler base hit.

With the Hens ahead 3-0, Enns would continue with his second shift through the Saints' lineup. They seemed to have finally figured him out, however, as Edouard Julien and Carson McCusker opened the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back home runs.

After tacking on his ninth and tenth strikeouts and surrendering his only walk of the day, Enns was pulled in the fifth inning for Brendan White. White would issue a walk of his own, before giving up an RBI single to McCusker to tie things 3-3.

Bailey Horn took over pitching duties in the seventh, but would put himself in a bit of a jam. The southpaw dealt two walks to put the Saints in scoring position with just one out. Horn escaped from his self-imposed prison by forcing weak contact, stranding the base runners.

St. Paul pitcher, and former Toledo Rocket, Kyle Bischoff would put himself in a similar situation as he loaded the bases with a Justyn-Henry Malloy base hit and two walks. Bischoff would be replaced by Cody Lawyerson, but that meant nothing to Baddoo who cleared the bases with his third hit of the day. The three-RBI double would set him just a home run shy of the cycle and put Toledo ahead 6-3.

The Mud Hens were unable to add to their lead any further in the ninth, so they went to the final frame with Matt Manning on the mound. Manning would surrender a couple of hits, bringing the game-tying run to the plate. A Mickey Gasper walk would load the bases, which brought Julien to the plate with a chance to win it in the final out of the game.

Julien wouldn't get the game-ending grand slam, but a hard-hit grounder would be enough to score Prato and move the game-tying run to second base. To secure the victory, Manning would have to take down McCusker who had already been a problem in this game. McCusker would foul off three pitches, but Manning called game when he threw a 96.4 mph fastball right down the middle and caught McCusker watching.

The Toledo Mud Hens and the St. Paul Saints will face off again Thursday at 8:07 p.m.

Notables:

Dietrich Enns (4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, 2 HR)

Akil Baddoo (3-4, 3B, 2B, 4 RBI, R, SB)

Check out the Toledo Mud Hens Statistics



International League Stories from June 18, 2025


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