Dock Spiders Lose it in the Eighth

FOND DU LAC, WI – It was an eighth inning single from Brendan Ross (Notre Dame College) that gave the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters a 5-4 lead over the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders, a lead they would hold on to until the end in a Dock Spiders loss on the road at Witter Field on Tuesday night.

Josh Howitt (2-0) earned the win for the Rafters while Garner Spoljaric (0-2) took the loss for Fond du Lac. Alec Burnett (U Indy) earned his first save of the year in a perfect ninth inning.

The win saw the Rafters (20-2) extend their lead to 8.5 games over the Dock Spiders (11-10), who sit in second-place in the Great Lakes West Division.

The game featured three different lead changes in the first three innings, and saw eight of the nine total runs score in the first four.

Grant Hussey (West Virginia) started the scoring with a solo shot to right in the first inning, his first home run of the summer after hitting 11 this spring as a Mountaineer. Wisconsin Rapids would respond with a two-run homer to take a 2-1 lead. In the second, the Dock Spiders would tally two more to re-take the lead when an error scored Stephen Schissler (Nova Southeastern), and then Tyeler Hawkins (Louisville) drove in Evan Stone (South Carolina) with a single.

After the Rafters scored two more in the third to take a 4-3 lead, Alejandro Macario (Nova Southeastern) drove in Schissler with a deep sacrifice fly to center. The Rafters would take the lead in the eighth and retire 11 of the final 12 Dock Spiders to take the win.

Both teams will match-up tomorrow at Witter Field for the series finale before the Dock Spiders head to Kalamazoo. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.