The Madison Mallards (24-10) rolled past the Green Bay Booyah 15-2 on Sunday at Capital Credit Union Park to officially claim the first-half championship in the Great Lakes West division. Justice Bigbie (Western Carolina) recorded a season-high eight RBI in the demolition and the Mallards’ pitching staff shined on the bump.
The Mallards once again started with momentum in the first inning to take a commanding 4-0 lead. Andre Nnebe (Santa Clara) laced a two-out RBI single to score the first run. Then, Drew Williams (San Jose State) drilled an RBI double which was followed by a two-RBI double by Ryne Stanley (North Carolina A&T)
Madison’s offense kept rolling with another run in the second on an RBI groundout from Ben Anderson (Georgia). The Mallards added three more in the fourth after EJ Ranel (Lenoir-Rhyne) contributed an RBI and Bigbie laced a two-RBI single to open an 8-0 cushion.
The Mallards continued the slugfest into the fifth inning with five more runs. Ranel notched another RBI with a sacrifice fly. Then, with the bases loaded, Bigbie crushed his second grand slam of the week over the wall in right, giving Madison a decisive 13-0 advantage.
Green Bay scored two runs in the fifth on an RBI single from Cooper Morrison (UC-Davis) and a groundout by Mike Ferri (UW-Milwaukee), spoiling the shutout and moving the score to 13-2.
In the seventh, Bigbie capped his monster day at the plate with his second home run of the game, a two-run blast to right, serving as the exclamation point of the afternoon and putting the Mallards on top 15-2.
Trevor Marreel (Washburn) was phenomenal on the mound for the Mallards and picked up the win. Marreel threw five strong innings, giving up two runs on three hits while striking out five. Logan Lee (Northwood) was given the loss after allowing eight runs in his start.
The Mallards continue their road swing with a trip to Kapco Park in Mequon, Wisconsin, to take on the Lakeshore Chinooks. The series opener is scheduled for a 6:35 p.m. start on Monday.