ROCHESTER, MN – In a closely contested match at Mayo Field, the La Crosse Loggers suffered a narrow 5-4 defeat to the Rochester Honkers in front of 1,306 fans.
La Crosse starter Tyler Albanese (San Jose State) delivered a solid outing, pitching 4 innings while allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and recording 2 strikeouts.
His counterpart, Cade Cushing (San Jose State), went 4.1 innings for the Honkers, giving up 4 runs on 9 hits while striking out 6.
The Loggers struck first in the top of the 3rd inning when Ian Collier (Texas State) drove in a run with a single to center field. Kanon Sundgren (Weatherford) extended the lead in the top of the 4th with a solo home run to left field, putting La Crosse ahead 2-0.
The Honkers quickly responded in the bottom of the 4th, tying the game at 2-2 thanks to a Grant Macarthur (San Joaquin Delta) RBI double and an Andrew Cain (Arizona) RBI single.
La Crosse regained the lead in the top of the 5th with a solo home run by Mitch Wood (Iowa) and an RBI single by Sebastian David (Sanford), pushing the score to 4-2.
However, Rochester leveled the game again in the bottom of the 7th, when Paul Schoenfeld (Colorado Mesa) launched a 2-run homer.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the 9th, when Blaine French (Central Arkansas) delivered a walk-off RBI single, securing a 5-4 victory for the Honkers.
With this loss, the Loggers drop to 32-35 on the season, while the Honkers improve to 28-39. The Loggers will return home tomorrow to face the Honkers in the second game of the series, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.