For Wausau Pilot & Review
WAUSAU – The Wausau Woodchucks (36-31) finished off a sweep of the Lakeshore Chinooks (33-34) with a 5-2 win on Tuesday night at Athletic Park, extending their winning streak to their longest of the season at eight wins in a row.
The Woodchucks kicked things off in the bottom of the second when Travis Stapleton (Polk State) got the first hit of the game by crushing a double to center field, then stole third and managed to sneak home on an error by the Chinooks to give the Chucks their first run.
The Chucks bats stayed hot in the bottom of the third inning. Jc Ng (Pomona-Pitzer) advanced to first on a walk, ran to second on a wild pitch, and then stole third. Elie Kligman (Wake Forest) was also walked, putting two runners on base for Chase Hug (Evansville) to smash a three-run home run over the right field wall, putting the Woodchucks up 4-0. Hug;s homerun would be the Woodchucks’ 50th of the season, tying the season record.
Wausau continued on their hot streak after a Dwight Allen (Georgia) single scored Jakob Boos (UWSP) from third to put the Chucks up 5-0. Woodchucks pitching would keep the Chinooks at bay only allowing two runs to cross the plate. Nick Marshall (West Texas A&M) led the way with seven innings of work, striking out eight and earning the win for the Chucks.
With the victory, the Woodchucks inched their way closer to the Northwoods League playoffs, putting themselves three games ahead of the Chinooks and two games ahead of the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders.
Wausau will play a two-game series at Green Bay on Wednesday and Thursday, before hosting Madison on Friday and finishing its regular-season schedule Saturday at Madison.
Friday’s game against the Mallards starts at 6:35 p.m. and will feature postgame fireworks, presented by American Family Insurance. Tickets can be purchased online at https://wausau-woodchucks.nwltickets.com/ or by calling 715-845-5055.
