(Rochester,MN)– The Duluth Huskies edged the Rochester Honkers 9-7 in a back-and-forth thriller to end the regular season on Sunday, August 11, at Mayo Field.
Alex Wojciechowski, Conor Szczerba, and Trey Vavra singled in the top of the third inning to give Duluth an early 1-0 lead.
Jeff Campbell (North Dakota) singled with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning and came in to score on a two-run homerun from Matt Halloran (Minnesota) to give the Honkers their first lead of the game at 2-1.
The Huskies regained the lead at 7-2 with a six-run eighth inning. The big inning was fueled by a three-run homerun from Szczerba over the left-center field wall.
Rochester answered with a big inning of its own in the bottom half of the eighth Max Murphy (Bradley) started the inning with a single and Tyler Baker (Wichita State) reached on a hit by pitch to give the Honkers a pair of base runners with no outs. Campbell and Halloran each delivered RBI singles to score Murphy and Baker to cut the deficit to three runs. Kevin Barker (UC Davis,) Reid Roper (Illinois,) and Caleb Dugas (Copiah-Lincoln Community College) picked up a RBI each to complete the five-run inning and tie the score at 7-7.
Keith Curcio started the top of the ninth inning with a double off of the right field fence and came in to score on a two-run homerun for Brad Wilson to give Duluth the late 9-7 lead.
Thomas Rogers earned the win (2-1) for the Huskies as he pitched 1.2 innings in relief, allowing an unearned run on two hits. Brandon Stennis (Doane College) took the loss (2-6) for the Honkers as he allowed four runs on four hits in one inning. Rochester's starting pitcher Tyler Eppler (Sam Houston State) allowed one run on eight hits in six innings of work. Alex Tenorio (Menlo College) and Seth Fuller (Black Hawk College) combined for 1.2 innings of work.
Campbell, Halloran, and Murphy led the Honkers offense as they each picked up a pair of hits on the day.
Rochester finished the second half with a record of 10-25 while going 28-42 overall.