Bullpen Falters Late in Dock Spider Loss

FOND DU LAC, WI – The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but the Green Bay Rockers scored six unanswered runs to take the series opener, 6-4, on Thursday night at Capital Credit Union Park in Green Bay.

The win was the fourth straight for the Rockers, who improved to 23-33 and 13-7 in the second half. The Dock Spiders fell to 29-27, and 10-12 in the second half.

The Dock Spiders got the scoring started in the third inning when Cole Messina (South Carolina) smashed his second home run in as many days to give the Dock Spiders a 2-0 lead. His home run gave him the team lead on the year with five. Two batters later, Kemp Alderman (Ole Miss) tripled to the wall in left-center and was brought home when the relay throw went out of play. They would extend the lead to 4-0 when Sawyer Smith (St. Cloud State) notched his first RBI of the year with a groundout.

In the fifth inning, the Rockers would start the comeback charge with three runs off an RBI single, an RBI walk, and a fielder’s choice to make it 4-3. Jarrett Kenyon (South Suburban) then entered the game with runners on the corners and two outs. The righty then retired the next four batters to keep the lead through six. The Rockers would take the lead in the seventh, however, with a fielder’s choice from Luke Ballweg (Augustana).

In the eighth, the Rockers would take the lead when Matt Scannell (Princeton) scored from second on a wild pitch. An RBI single to right from Danny Wuestenfeld (Central Michigan) in the inning made it 6-4.

Marcus Jaworski (1-0, UW-Stevens Point) got the win in his first appearance of the season, throwing five shutout innings with two strikeouts. Noah Magee (1-1, Ole Miss) took the loss for the Dock Spiders.

The two teams will finish their two-game set tomorrow night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.