St. Cloud, Minn.- La Crosse was shut out for the fourth time this season, falling to the red-hot Rox 6-0.
The Rox led off the 1st inning with back-to-back singles by Ricky Ramirez (McNeese State) and Drew Freedman (Wake Forest). A passed ball moved the runners over a base. Luke Ringhofer (South Dakota State) brought in Ramirez on a groundout to 2nd base and Freedman scored on the next play by a Michael Strem (Boston College) single.
St. Cloud added two more runs in the 4th inning. Brendan Illies (North Carolina) reached on an error by Loggers’ third baseman Jake Hirabayashi (UCLA). He scored on a wild pitch by starting pitcher Taylor Blatch (Florida State). Luke Ringhofer added the 4th run of the game on a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Rox put together two more runs late and took the game 6-0. St. Cloud swept the series and their last four games against the Loggers.
Dan Metzdorf (Boston College) earned his 1st win of the season (1-1) with a 6 inning shutout start. He surrendered only two hits, while walking one and striking out five. La Crosse visits St. Cloud for the final time on July 10-11.
Taylor Blatch took his 1st loss in his 1st start (0-1). He made it 3.1 innings, giving up 4 runs on 4 hits. Taylor also walked 4 and struck out 4 more.
La Crosse drops back to .500 (16-16) with the loss. St. Cloud moves to a NWL best 22-9, now with a 2 game lead over Waterloo for the North Division lead. The Loggers head home for the last home series of the 1st half. Watch the Lumbermen take on the Mankato MoonDogs for the 1st time this season at 7:05. Gates open at 6 pm.
