Bucks Remain In Contention For First-Half Championship

The Waterloo Bucks are in a heated pennant race with six games remaining on their first-half schedule.

A three-hit evening from Robert Neustrom and a 4.2 scoreless innings from the bullpen paced the home team to a 4-3 win over the Mankato MoonDogs in the series opener at Riverfront Stadium Thursday night (June 30, 2016).

Waterloo broke a 3-3 tie and scored what proved to be the winning run in the fifth inning, as it rebounded from Wednesday's doubleheader sweep. With six games remaining on their first-half schedule, the Bucks are in the thick of a heated pennant race in the Northwoods League's North Division. They trail first-place St. Cloud by one game in their quest for the first-half title and automatic playoff berth.

After starting pitchers Steven Baker (Waterloo) and Ricky Digrugilliers (Mankato) exchanged zeroes through the first three innings, the Bucks went ahead 3-0 with three runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth.

Tyler Curtis started the inning with his second hit of the night. He moved to second on Lane Milligan's single to shallow left-center. Adam McGinnis then extended his season-high on-base streak to 13 games with an RBI single to left, bringing in Curtis. Milligan later scored on a double by Neustrom and McGinnis came home on a base hit by Brody Weiss.

Mankato (19-12) quickly evened the score at 3-3 with three runs in the top of the fifth inning. Waterloo (20-10), however, bounced back and regained the lead with an unearned run in the fifth. Curtis and Milligan each recorded base hits before McGinnis walked. Curtis scored the go-ahead run on a Mankato fielding error.

Bryce Reichmann, Nate Spielvogel, Hunter Spencer and Derek Hendrixson combined for 4.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the Bucks in the win. Reichmann (2-0) faced just three hitters in the victory, retiring two of the three. Hendrixson (2) recorded the six-out save to secure the win.

UP NEXT: Waterloo concludes its five-game homestand on Friday (July 1), again hosting the Mankato MoonDogs at Riverfront Stadium. First pitch in the series finale is at 7:05 p.m.

Story By: Jared Schlensky - Waterloo Bucks