Dock Spiders Explode for 14 Runs

FOND DU LAC, WI – Cole Messina (South Carolina) drove in a career-high seven runs on three extra base hits for the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders in an explosive 14-4 win over the Wausau Woodchucks on Sunday afternoon at Herr-Baker Field.

Messina went 3-5 on the day with a three-run homer, a triple and a double, falling a single shy of becoming the first Dock Spider in franchise history to hit for the cycle. His home run in the first gave him two at home in 2022, the first Dock Spider to tally multiple homers at home since Tim Elko (Ole Miss) in 2020.

On the mound, Stephen Schissler (Nova Southeastern) dazzled with 5.2 innings, a new career-high, and allowed just two runs to score. He retired 11 in a row from the first inning until the fifth, and retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced.

The Dock Spiders won their third straight game, and second in a row against the Woodchucks, to improve to 14-12. The Woodchucks fell to 13-15 with the loss.

Messina’s home run in the first put the Dock Spiders ahead 3-0, as they scored first for the sixth game in a row. They would then tally another in the third when Alejandro Macario (Nova Southeastern) drove in Parker Noland (Vanderbilt) with a sacrifice fly to left.

The Dock Spiders would then explode for seven runs in the fourth inning, sending 11 to the plate and tallying four hits. Messina tacked on two more RBI with a triple to right-center before Macario drove in his second of the day with a single. Four more would score off an error, an RBI single from Connor Manthey (Bradley) and a two-RBI double from Kyte McDonald (Wichita State). Messina would then tally his sixth and seventh RBI of the day with a two-run double in the fifth.

In the late innings, Wausau would scratch across four unanswered runs before David Dean (Northeastern Oklahoma A&M), finished the game with a scoreless ninth.

Schissler earned his second victory of the year while Ryan Eiermann (Southeastern) took his second loss of the summer.

The Dock Spiders head back out on the road tomorrow to face the Green Bay Rockers at Capital Credit Union Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.