The Bismarck Larks fell to the St. Cloud Rox on Thursday, July 18th by a final score of 7-3. The Larks jumped out ahead in the middle innings but the Rox scored 7 unanswered runs to win their 7th straight game in a row. 

What’s Next: The Larks and Rox will face off again on Friday, July 19th for the second and final game of the series. This will be the 5th straight game these two teams will play each other. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.

How It Happened: The Larks and Rox were locked in a pitcher’s duel through the first 4 innings. Larks starting pitcher Josh Gray was almost perfect through 4 innings, allowing just one hit and retiring 12 of 13 to start the game.

The Rox had their All-Star RJ Martinez starting on the mound and he was equally impressive through the first 4 innings. He had allowed just two hits through the first four innings and had 5 strikeouts.

The Larks broke through first with a two-out RBI single from Stephen Baughan which scored Alex Peterson from second to make it 1-0 in the 4th inning. Baughan’s hit was only the second hit of the game for the Larks.

The Larks then extended their lead in the top of the 5th inning with a few more RBI with two outs. Zack Gregory’s two-out, two-RBI double to right field allowed the Larks to increase their lead to 3-0.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Rox scored 7 runs to take the lead in the game. With the bases loaded and one out, the Rox strung together 3 consecutive hits (2 doubles and 1 single) to take the lead 4-3. The Rox then scored three more runs with two outs to cap off the 7-run inning. 

Both bullpens pitched well as neither team allowed a run the rest of the game. For the Larks, Zach Harlan pitched 2 scoreless frames before Evan Glew threw a scoreless 8th inning to keep the deficit at 4 runs. 

The Larks couldn’t scratch any across against the bullpen of the Rox as they threw 3 shutout innings to close out the game.

Beyond The Boxscore: Clay Woeste swiped another bag in the game upping his total to 25 on the season which is good enough for 3rd in the league, just two behind Sam Baier whos in the lead with 27. Zack Gregory walked for his league-lead 47th time in the game, he still leads the league in on-base percentage at .515. Wyatt Ulrich continued his hot-hitting from the All-Star game where he went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI. Ulrich was 3-for-3 in the first game back continuing his historic 3rd season with the Larks.