BOX SCORE – Huskies 3, Rochester 0
The Duluth Huskies defeated the Rochester Honkers, 3-0, at Mayo Field Wednesday afternoon to earn a split in the series.
One day after surrendering 13 runs, the Huskies (13-10) rebounded to deliver a sterling performance against the Honkers (5-17) on the mound. Four pitchers combined to throw the first shutout of the season for the Huskies.
Tyler Gray got the start for the Huskies, and he went five strong innings, allowing just two hits and recording five strikeouts.
The final three pitchers were Isaac Rohde, Albert Roblez and Caden Kratz.
The Huskies offense recorded just four hits but did enough to scratch across three runs. In the third, Corbin Grantham led off the inning with a single. Following a stolen base, a sac fly and a ground ball, he came around to score the game’s first run.
Undoubtedly, the biggest hit came from Reagan Reeder. With a runner on first in the seventh, Reeder blasted his third home run in the last four games to give the Huskies some insurance.
The 3-0 lead was in serious peril in the bottom half of the eighth. Roblez’s outing on the mound wasn’t pretty, walking all three batters he faced. However, Kratz came in and delivered back-to-back strikeouts and an inning-ending ground ball to preserve the lead, stranding the bases loaded.
Kratz would finish off the game in the ninth, recording his second save of the year. With the win, the Huskies pulled back within a half game of Thunder Bay. Duluth has a day off Thursday before a huge two-game series against the Border Cats beginning Friday north of the border. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 5:35 pm CST.
