Home runs from Mitch Gallagher and Scooter Bynum weren’t enough as Larks pitching gives up 14 hits and 11 walks in loss to St. Cloud
BISMARCK, ND – Based on the prior 21 games played before today, eight runs should win a baseball game for the Bismarck Larks.
However, in the first morning tilt of the 2017 season the Bismarck Larks were defeated and swept by the St. Cloud Rox by a final score of 13-8.
Inning number one saw five total runs come across to score. Four out of the five runs belonged to the Larks.
After trailing 1-0 thanks to an RBI single by Rox infielder Matt Tarantino, the Larks (10-12) made the Rox (15-7) pay after an errant throw on an attempted double play by pushing across four first-inning runs. Mason Pierzchalski and Cooper Coldiron highlighted the quick start with back-to-back RBI singles.
The Larks team that came flying out of the gates looked like a team that had been shutout on just five hits the night before. So much so that they ran Rox starting pitcher Kenny Saenz out of the ballgame after just one inning. The Larks made Saenz look nothing like the pitcher who sported a 1.05 ERA coming into his fourth start of the season.
But the Rox aren’t sitting in second place in the North Division because of luck.
Seven unanswered runs came about from this Rox offense from innings two to three ending Frank Greco’s day much earlier than he anticipated.
For the second consecutive start, Greco allowed six runs. Greco finished just two and two-thirds innings while issuing four walks in what was his second straight start not making it past the third inning.
After two silent innings from the offense, Ryan Anderson delivered an RBI single to bring the larks within three at 8-5. Pierzchalski struck out to end the bottom of the fourth inning leaving the bases loaded.
The Rox did not score in the top of the fifth inning serving as just one of three innings in which they failed to score. But, the Larks went away quietly in the bottom half of that inning squashing any hopes of grasping any momentum.
Good baseball teams make other teams pay for missed opportunities.
The top of the sixth included another RBI single from Tarantino, an RBI groundout from Shane Selman, a third run scored on a passed ball by Larks catcher Trever Leingang, and a lead of 11-5 in favor of the Rox.
The Larks would battle back thanks to Mitch Gallagher’s first home run of the season, a two run blast, and Scooter Bynum’s second home run of the season, an opposite field home run over the left field wall.
Larks pitching could not keep the Rox hitting in check though. The Rox offense went on to add two more runs en route to a 13-8 victory over the Larks.
The Mankato MoonDogs will head into town tomorrow night as the Larks look to avoid a three-game losing streak.
The first pitch is set for 7:05pm.
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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
