ROCHESTER, Minn. – For the second straight game, Duluth lost in Rochester in large part due to bad defense. The Honkers (29-18, 10-3) knocked off the Huskies (20-27, 4-8) by a final of 9-6 in a game that was never as close as the final. The Huskies allowed five unearned runs, all in the third inning and Rochester held off a late Duluth rally to win the series.
Duluth’s Jackson Smith faced off against Cooper Annin on the mound, and the pitchers were nearly identical through two innings. But in the third, Duluth stranded the bases loaded and the bottom of the third is where it unraveled for Duluth. Andrew Ermis dropped a foul pop up that allowed Tim Ford to reach on a walk later in the at-bat and served as the first error in the inning. With second and third and one out, Kayden Campbell allowed a ground ball to sneak under his glove to plate the first two runs, followed immediately by a Robert Orr two-run home run. Rochester finished the inning with five runs, getting into the Duluth bullpen early
Ben Lewellyn, who had allowed four earned runs all season, allowed four more in 2.1 innings in relief of Smith. Lewellyn walked four batters and allowed two hits, including his first home run against, launched by Cooper Kruk. It was Kruk’s ninth home run in his last 11 games and 10th of the season to solidify his spot in the top five in the league in long balls. Two more runs scored in the fifth for Rochester after Lewellyn loaded the bases with no outs, making it 9-0 after five.
Duluth began their climb back into the ballgame from there. Annin returned for a sixth inning despite being at 90 pitches, and loaded the bases with no outs before being removed. Ermis drove in two with a double and Maddox Monsour added a sacrifice fly to push across all three charged to Annin in the sixth.
In the seventh, the script was similar. Gavin Simurdiak, the reliever who replaced Annin, loaded the bases on two walks and a hit by pitch. Waylon Walsh pushed two across with a single into right field, his first hit of the series, and Ermis added his third RBI on a sacrifice fly to make it 9-6.
Duluth had a chance in the eighth, with runners on second and third and one out, but reliever Jake Frederickson dodged trouble and set up Brandon Fears for the save. Fears walked the leadoff man but shut things done from there to earn his third save of the season.
In the win, Rochester was outhit, but had the only two home runs of the game. Annin finished with five innings, three earned runs and four strikeouts while Angel Santiago had two hits ahead of Orr and Kruk, who both homered. In the loss, Jalen Smith had a pair of hits, and Ermis had the same. Cole McCombs had his best outing for Duluth, striking out three in two hitless innings in relief.
On Deck
Duluth returns home to face the Wausau Woodchucks on Saturday and Sunday. The Huskies follow that up with a return trip to Wisconsin after a day off Monday, facing Wausau in a two game series and Wisconsin Rapids in a scheduled doubleheader. Tickets to Huskies home games can be found online on the team website and all Duluth Huskies baseball action can be streamed on FloSports.