Behind an early burst of offense and sturdy pitching from starter Tyler Hoeft, the Wisconsin Woodchucks beat the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders by a score of 8-3 at Herr-Baker Field Friday night.
In a season where the Woodchucks (27-19) have struggled mightily against the Dock Spiders (30-16), it was the first-half champions who committed four costly fielding errors Friday.
The Woodchucks erased an early 1-0 deficit on Colton Vincent’s two-run single in the top of the second. Another pair would score on Tyler Kehoe’s fielder’s choice two batters later. The first of four Fond du Lac errors prevented them from ending the inning with a double play.
In the top of the third, the Woodchucks added on two more after loading the bases with only one out. A swinging bunt by Jacob Schoenvogel and a fielding error allowed Stephen Reid to score before Vincent’s groundout plated Burke.
The Chucks would once again cash in with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth. Kevin Kilpatrick grounded into a fielder’s choice at second but beat the relay to first. An aggressive play on the basepaths by Antonio Valdez allowed him to score all the way from second on the play, extending the lead to 8-1.
The Woodchucks had only six hits on the day, but they all came from the bottom five hitters in the lineup. All five of those hitters (including Burke, Ben McCabe, Schoenvogel, Vincent and Valdez) scored at least one run.
Hoeft worked seven innings of three-run ball in his longest outing of the season. He held the Dock Spiders to four hits, striking out five to earn his division-leading fifth win.
The win improved the Woodchucks’ second-half record to 6-5 and split the two-game series in Fond du Lac. The win is the first for the Woodchucks in four meetings at Herr-Baker Field this season. It ended a streak of five losses in a row in the season series, which now sits at 6-2 in favor of the Dock Spiders.
Wisconsin Woodchucks 8 @ Fond du Lac Dock Spiders 3
Game Date: Friday July 16th, 2021
| Final/9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodchucks | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 4 | |
| Dock Spiders | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
W: Hoeft (5-1, 2.42 ERA) L: Shingledecker (0-1, 14.40 ERA)
| Woodchucks | AB | R | H | RBI | YTD AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kehoe, Tyler CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .271 |
| Groover Iii, Gino SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .266 |
| Kilpatrick, Kevin LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .320 |
| Reid, Stephen DH | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .382 |
| Burke, Jacob 3B | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .137 |
| McCabe, Ben 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .172 |
| Schoenvogel, Jacob RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .159 |
| Vincent, Colton C | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | .224 |
| Valdez, Antonio 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .141 |
| 32 | 8 | 6 | 6 |
| Dock Spiders | AB | R | H | RBI | YTD AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simpson, Chandler CF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .389 |
| Scott , Victor LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .360 |
| Josenberger, Tavian 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .287 |
| Loftin, Jackson SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .316 |
| Lasko, Ryan RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .266 |
| Harris, Calvin 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .294 |
| Ireland, Sam DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Manthey, Connor 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| Spiegel, Josh C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .213 |
| 30 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
Wisconsin Woodchucks
2B: B. McCabe 1 (1);
RBI: C. Vincent 3 (10); T. Kehoe 1 (18); K. Kilpatrick 2 (33);
HBP: A. Valdez 1 (2);
SB: J. Schoenvogel 1 (5); C. Vincent 1 (2);
CS: K. Kilpatrick 1 (2); J. Burke 1 (1);
E: J. Burke 2 (6); T. Hoeft 1 (2); C. Millar 1 (1);
Team LOB: 6;
Fond du Lac Dock Spiders
RBI: T. Josenberger 1 (20); J. Loftin 1 (37);
SB: V. Scott 2 (25); J. Loftin 1 (29);
CS: J. Loftin 1 (6); C. Simpson 1 (9);
E: J. Loftin 2 (14); J. Spiegel 1 (3); C. Manthey 1 (4);
Team LOB: 5;
| Woodchucks | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | YTD ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoeft, Tyler | 7.0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2.42 |
| – Millar, Colin | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 9.0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Dock Spiders | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | YTD ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shingledecker, Tyler | 3.0 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 14.40 |
| – Richardson, Austin | 3.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.21 |
| – Middaugh, Taylor | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.11 |
| 9.0 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 0 |
Wisconsin Woodchucks
WP: T. Hoeft 2 (4);
SO: T. Hoeft 5 (33); C. Millar 1 (3);
BB: T. Hoeft 3 (19); C. Millar 1 (3);
BF: T. Hoeft 28 (190); C. Millar 7 (19);
P-S: T. Hoeft 98-56; C. Millar 31-18;
Fond du Lac Dock Spiders
HB: T. Shingledecker 1 (1);
SO: T. Shingledecker 3 (4); A. Richardson 1 (19); T. Middaugh 2 (12);
BB: T. Shingledecker 4 (6); A. Richardson 2 (25); T. Middaugh 1 (9);
BF: T. Shingledecker 18 (30); A. Richardson 14 (129); T. Middaugh 9 (92);
P-S: T. Shingledecker 66-35; A. Richardson 54-29; T. Middaugh 35-18;
Umpires: Plate: L. Cintron 1B: R. Fratus 3B: M. LaBuda
Weather: Sunny
Start time: 6:35 pm (Central)
Duration: 02:44:51
Attendance: 506
Venue: Herr-Baker Field
