We are part of The Trust Project.
WILLMAR — Despite trailing the Mankato MoonDogs early, the Stingers did not flinch en route to a 21-14 football-esque victory Thursday evening before 1,048 fans at Bill Taunton Stadium.
In the high-scoring, back-and-forth affair, the two teams were responding to each other all night long in a game that saw six home runs, until Tucker Novotny entered the game for the Stingers.
In 4-2/3 relief innings, Novotny struck out 11 of 14 batters to earn his second save this season. He allowed five hits and two runs, including a solo home run from Charles McAdoo — McAdoo’s second of the night — in the eighth inning.
Outside of McAdoo, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs, four others hit home runs. There was one from MoonDog Sean Ross and three from Stingers Will Safford, Carson Hake and Jake Entrekin.
Ross’ solo home run opened up the scoring on the game’s second at-bat.
ADVERTISEMENT
Safford went 4-for-4 with five RBIs, three runs, two walks, a pair of doubles and a three-run home run in a three-run fifth inning. Hake went 2-for-4 with four runs, two walks, an RBI, a double and a solo home run in a three-run seventh inning. Entrekin went 1-for-1 with an RBI and a run with a solo home run in a two-run eighth inning.
Mankato led 8-3 after the top of the second inning. Seven of Mankato’s 14 runs came in the second inning. McAdoo highlighted the inning with a two-run home run.
Willmar scored three or more runs in five innings, out-hitting the MoonDogs 24-17. Seven batters recorded multi-hit performances.
Brett Bateman tallied a team-best six hits in seven at-bats, recording four runs, an RBI and a stolen base.
Scott Anderson tied Safford for a team-best five RBIs. He went 2-for-4 with a double and was hit by a pitch.
The Stingers seemed to always have a response whenever Mankato scored runs.
Ten Stingers recorded at least one hit. Nine MoonDogs tallied at least one hit.
The Stingers (21-4 second half, 42-17) are tied for first place in the Great Plains West Division with the St. Cloud Rox. Willmar will look to secure the two-game series sweep of the MoonDogs at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Bill Taunton Stadium.
ADVERTISEMENT
Willmar 21, Mankato 14
Mankato 170 130 011-14 17 5
Willmar 346 030 32x-21 24 3
Hitting - Mankato: Kai Roberts 1-6 r rbi, Sean Ross 2-5 bb hr r-2 rbi-2, Brendan Hord 3-5 bb r-2 rbi, Ariel Armas 2-5 bb r roe rbi-3, Orlando Salinas 1-4 r rbi, Charles McAdoo 3-5 hr-2 r-2 rbi-4, Dustin Crenshaw 1-4 bb, Joel Vaske 2-5 sb 2b r-2, Mikey Gottschalk 2-4 bb r-3 rbi… Willmar: Brett Bateman 6-7 sb r-4 rbi, Zac Corbin 2-4 bb-3 sb-3 r-3 rbi, Joey Walls 0-0 hbp r, Nick Terrell 2-5 sb r-2 rbi, Scott Anderson 2-4 hbp 2b rbi-5, Graysen Tarlow 3-5 sb r rbi, Drey Dirksen 1-3 bb-2 rbi-2, Jake Entrekin 1-1 hr r rbi, Jordan Sagedahl 1-6 sb 2b r-2, Carson Hake 2-4 bb-2 2b hr r-4 rbi, Will Safford 4-4 bb-2 2b-2 hr r-3 rbi-5
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Mankato: Mitchel Casperson 2-6-7-7-2-4, Nick Shubert (L) 0.1-4-6-4-2-0, Owen Little 2.2-5-3-3-4-1, Sky Wells 2-5-3-1-1-2, Tim Scarlett 1-4-2-2-0-1… Willmar: Jack Zigan 2-8-8-3-0-1, Michael Chevalier 2.1-4-4-3-5-4, Tucker Novotny (W) 4.2-5-2-2-0-11
