Madison Mallards

The Madison Mallards, behind the huge effort from P Alex Rivers, were able to record their first win in Wausau this season and take the first game of the South Divisional playoff series between the Mallards and the Wisconsin Woodchucks, 4-1 on Tuesday night. Rivers was fantastic on the mound tonight, baffling opposing hitters with a good mix of blistering fastballs and knee-buckling curves. He carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning, and struck out the first two batters of the frame, but failed to record the final out, giving up a single to centerfielder Terrence Jackson followed by a triple by Jake Waddle to score the Woodchuck’s first run. A walk to Carson Vitale was issued, chasing Rivers from the game. On the night, Rivers went 7.2 innings, striking out 10, while giving up only one walk, two hits, and one earned run. The Mallards bats were hot early, having four base runners through the first two innings. But with two outs in the third, the Ducks’ offense exploded. After a Brandon Wikoff single and a Rob Lyerly base knock, Phil Gosselin came to the plate and belted his first home run of the season, putting the Mallards up 3-0. Relatively quiet over the next two innings, the bat of Luke Stewart made it 4-0 in a flash. Stewart hit a pitch from Woodchuck Kyle Gumieny over the fence and the Ducks had more reason to celebrate. For Stewart, this was his seventh home run of the season and the Mallards sat comfortably ahead and never looked back. 2008 Team MVP Rob Lyerly finished the game 2-4 with a double and a run scored. Lyerly hit .342 this season for best on the team. Brandon Wikoff was also strong, going 2-3 with a walk, scoring once. Alex Rivers was relieved by Andy Deain and facing the top of the order with the tying run at the plate, he came through in the clutch. Deain forced Jeff Cowan to hit a comebacker to the mound, which he fielded cleanly and tossed to first, killing the Woodchucks’ dreams of a huge inning. Deain retired the side 1-2-3 in the ninth, striking out two, for the 4-out save.
Tomorrow, Matt Jansen will square off against Brad Allen at Warner Park. Game time is set for 7:05 pm.