BISMARCK, ND – Some days it’s best to mark it down as a tough day at the office and then move on.
The Bismarck Larks were shutout for the first time in the 2017 season losing 4-0 to the St. Cloud Rox.
The Rox (14-7) scored right out of the gates in the bottom of the first inning due to a defensive mistake by the Larks (10-11). With two outs and a chance to get out of the inning, Mitch Gallagher made a low throw to Austin Paschke at first that he wasn’t able to dig out of the dirt. Cameron Eden, who doubled on the first pitch of the inning, came around to score to make it 1-0.
Larks starting pitcher Andy Lalonde made his fourth start of the year giving his team a reasonable chance to win the ballgame. He exited the contest with two outs in the top of the sixth having given up just two total runs with one of them tabbed as earned.
Noah Luedtke relieved Lalonde by stranding runners on first and second due to a strikeout of Eden. At the end of five and a half innings, the score was 2-0 and the Larks were in striking distance.
But on this night the Larks would not strike.
In fact, the combination of Rox pitchers Ryan Shreve and Kyle Boser wouldn’t allow a Larks baserunner to reach third base all game. Gallagher and Mason Pierzchalski were the only Larks hitters to reach second base as they each did it on two separate occasions.
Rox starter Ryan Shreve earned his second win on the year recording his longest start thus far with six innings of shutout baseball. The right hander out of Sherman Oaks, CA allowed only five hits and issued just one walk.
Rox reliever Kyle Boser earned his first save of the season as he dominated the Larks offense without allowing a hit in three innings of work. Boser allowed just one base runner in his near perfect relief appearance walking Cooper Coldiron in the top of the ninth. The Little Falls, MN native responded with two out of his four strikeouts to finish the game and hand the Larks their 11th loss of the season.
Overall, between Shreve and Boser, the Rox faced seven batters over the minimum allowing five total hits and two free passes.
The Rox added their two other runs in the top of the seventh off Luedtke. A pair of RBI doubles from Shane Selman and Michael Busch made it 4-0 giving the Rox insurance runs they wouldn’t need. Luedtke would use a 6-4-3 double play to put the Larks back in the dugout.
A bright spot for the Larks was the performance they got out of relief pitcher JC Bonilla. Bonilla, in his fifth appearance of the 2017 campaign, completed two innings without allowing a run striking out two Rox hitters.
The Larks will turn to Frank Greco tomorrow as they attempt to split the series and avoid an 0-4 season start against the Rox.
First pitch of the series capper is set for 11:05am.
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The Bismarck Larks are apart of the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 170 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play
