WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. – (WAUSAU WOODCHUCKS-WSAU) –The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (37-8) prevailed in a tight 3-2 contest with the Wausau Woodchucks (23-22) at Witter Field Thursday night.
A two-run homer by Brendan Bobo in the sixth inning made the difference for the hometown Rafters, who snapped the Woodchucks’ season-best six game winning streak.
Dawson Lane (Florida Southern) pitched five strong innings for the Woodchucks. He struck out three and walked none, holding the league’s best team to just one run on four hits.
Ryan Sepede (BYU) hit his team-leading sixth homer in the fifth inning. The solo blast to center field was the Woodchucks’ first hit of the night, and it tied the score at 1-1.
Chase Hug (Evansville) doubled, and the Chucks loaded the bases later in the inning. But after a line drive hit by Brent Widder (Evansville) landed just a few feet foul in the left field corner, he struck out with the bases loaded.
Trailing 3-1 after Bobo’s homer, manager Corey Thompson replaced Aaron Evers (Arkansas State) with Michael Conte (Central Michigan) in the seventh. He kept the deficit at two by tossing a scoreless frame.
Zach Levenson (Miami) led off the eighth inning with a walk and stole second base with two outs. Hug guided a ground ball up the middle for a run-scoring single which cut the deficit in half.
In the bottom of the inning, Tyler Denu (Evansville) worked around a lead-off single to keep the score at 3-2.
Against the Rafters’ closer Preston Howey, the Woodchucks got the tying run on base via walk when Hunter Dorraugh (San Jose State) drew the free pass as a pinch hitter.
But Widder bounced a hard grounder to third, and the Rafters turned a game-ending double play to secure their victory.
The Woodchucks left 8 men on base in the loss, which drops them to 6-3 – a game and a half behind the Rafters in the second half standings. All three losses in the second half have come against Wisconsin Rapids.
Widder drew a walk in the seventh inning, extending his on-base streak to 30 games in the loss. He’s the first Woodchuck to do this since Steele Walker back in 2016.
The two teams play tonight in Wausau.
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