Duluth loses to the defending champions for the first time in seven games.
The bats were hot yet again in St. Cloud, but the Duluth Huskies fell just short against the 2017 Northwoods League Winners and lost by a single run.
Zac Shoemaker (Missouri Southern) got another start on the mound and pitched well, locating all his pitches to start, and struck out six in 5.1 innings and only allowed three hits. But the Rox batters stayed patient, and ultimately it was walks that hurt the lefty, as he walked four batters. Three of those four batters scored, for all three runs Shoemaker allowed, which was just enough to give the starter the loss.
The Huskies scored only a single run in the fifth, sixth and seventh. Augie Isaacson (Friends) singled, stole a base, and scored when Nick Sogard (Loyola Marymount) notched an RBI single. That sequence added to Isaacson’s league lead in all three categories (61 hits, 37 runs, 26 stolen bases) and tied the game at one run each.
In the sixth, it was a moonshot by Christian Jones (Washington) that towered over the center field ivy and gave the Huskies the lead. The home run was the first of the year by the big first baseman, but likely not his last.
Julian Escobedo (San Diego State) led off the seventh inning with another home run on a laser to right field, his first this season. But in each of those innings, the Huskies couldn’t add any more. The runs ultimately weren’t enough, and St. Cloud got the better of Duluth, taking the win 4-3.
The loss is the first of the year to St. Cloud after Duluth won each of the first six meetings. The Huskies return to Wade Stadium tomorrow for revenge against the Rox. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. as Hunter Bigge (Harvard) is slated to take the mound.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.duluthhuskies.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Huskies as your favorite team
