Battle Creek, Mich. – The Battle Creek Bombers came up short in game three of the Summer Collegiate World Series 5-3 on Saturday night to the St. Cloud Rox at C.O. Brown Stadium, ending a memorable 2017 season.

The Bombers fell behind in the fifth inning with two outs. A bad throw by second baseman Gavin Homer (McHenry County) continued the inning for the Rox. St. Cloud rallied five hits for four runs off Battle Creek to take a 4-0 lead.

The Bombers responded and cut the deficit in half. Homer doubled to right center with one out for his first hit of the game. Homer then scored on a ground out to the second baseman, hit by Tom Stoffel (Virginia Tech). Cody Hawken (University of Portland) scored later in the inning off an Alex Howard (Arkansas Sate) RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-2.

But to start the sixth, St. Cloud answered back with a solo home run to left center, making it a 5-2 advantage for the Rox. Battle Creek wouldn’t falter either, scoring in their next at-bat. Homer singled to score Aaron Antonini (Middle Tennessee State) who doubled to start the inning. Trailing 5-3, Battle Creek stranded two on the bases in the sixth.

Battle Creek would leave two runners on in the seventh, one in the eighth and were shut down in the ninth to end the game. The Bombers complete the season 45-32 overall, they broke the Northwoods League record for most doubles in a season (148) while Howard doubled 28 times, a single-season record in the NWL. Battle Creek also set the franchise record for most home runs (54) and extra base hits (213) in a season.