Sports News
Dock Spiders Cruise to Win
FOND DU LAC, WI – The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders took the series opener with an 8-3 win over the Kokomo Jackrabbits to open their two-game series at Herr-Baker Field on Friday night.
With the win, the Dock Spiders improved to 16-15 on the year, while the Jackrabbits fell to 9-23. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Dock Spiders.
Luke Vaks (1-0, College of Charleston) earned the win after 3.2 shutout innings in relief, extending his shutout streak to 11 innings. His streak is one out shy of Austin Wagner’s (Mary) streak, set at 11.1 innings, for the longest by a Dock Spiders pitcher in 2022. Chase Barsotti (1-3, Menlo College) took the loss.
Parker Noland (Vanderbilt) tallied his fifth multi-hit game in his first seven games, smashing two doubles to bring his average to .462 (12-26) on the year.
The Dock Spiders scored first for the 10th time in the last 11 games. They tallied five in the first off four hits, including a triple from Jack O’Dowd (Texas) to drive in a run. The triple was O’Dowd’s first hit as a Dock Spider after joining the team on Thursday. In the second inning, the Dock Spiders tallied three more on four walks and a hit batter to take an 8-1 lead.
After the second, the Dock Spiders bullpen went to work. Tyler Tornberg (Rutgers) worked around a one-out walk for a scoreless third, and Vaks threw 3.2 shutout innings. Andrew Pogue (Illinois) entered the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh. He induced a groundout to get out of the jam.
In the eighth inning, the Jackrabbits used an infield single and a double-play to bring home two more and cut the Dock Spiders lead to 8-3.
Christian Ruebeck (Kansas State) closed it out with a shutout ninth inning, touching 95 MPH multiple times with his fastball. The inning extended Ruebeck’s own shutout streak to 7.1 innings.
The Dock Spiders and Jackrabbits finish their two-game series on Saturday night at Herr-Baker Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with gates opening at 5:30. The first 500 fans will receive a Dock Spiders Player Card set courtesy of Real Sportscards.