The Catfish Reel.
Your Catfish Baseball News.

Clinton, IA, June 17 – LumberKings pitchers scattered six Catfish singles and allowed just one run Friday night enroute to an 8-1 win over the defending 2021 Prospect League champions.

The Catfish scored their lone run in the top of the fourth without the benefit of a hit when Dante Zamudio (West Virginia State University) walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-base error on an infield grounder hit by J.D. Ortiz (SIU-Carbondale).

Catfish Starter Tanner Mueller (Southeast Missouri State University) started strong, recording seven strikeouts in the first 3 1/3 innings. But in the bottom of the fourth, he walked the bases loaded and was replaced by left-handed reliever and Saxony High School graduate Eli Brown (Lindenwood University) who walked the first batter he faced to force in Clinton’s first run, tying the game..

Clinton took advantage of two walks, three hit batsmen and a pair of singles, all with two outs, to score three more runs in the fifth inning which was more than enough to put the game away. The LumberKings sent 10 men to the plate in the sixth, scoring four more runs thanks to five hits, including an RBI double by Matt Scherrman (University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh), four singles and a pair of walks.

Mueller (0-1) was the losing pitcher, giving up one earned run, walking two and striking out seven in his 3 1/3 innings on the mound. Clinton starter Jackson Kent (University of Arizona) pitched five innings, allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out nine Catfish to earn his first win of the season (1-0).

Friday night’s line score was one run, six hits and two errors for the Catfish while the LumberKings had eight runs on eight hits and one error.

The loss dropped the Catfish record to 7-10 while the LumberKings evened their record at 9-9.

Cape and Clinton will face off again Saturday at NelsonCorp Field in Clinton. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.