By Connor Wachtel
St. Cloud, Minn. – The Mankato MoonDogs fell to the St. Cloud Rox 10-2 in St. Cloud, Minn. on Thursday night. The MoonDogs waited until the ninth to notch their first hits and runs and it showed in the final score as the Rox took game two of the home and home series in cruising fashion.
BOX SCORE: St. Cloud 10, Mankato 2
The Rox got on the board first in the third when Ben Carew (Kent State) blasted an RBI triple to score two guys. Then Gus Steiger (South Dakota State) flew out to center to score Carew on a sacrifice fly play. The Rox held 3-0 lead after the third inning. Freddy Achecar (Georgetown) then drove in two more with a double down the right field line. The Rox batted around and finished the third with a 5-0 lead.
Scoring would hold off until the eighth, where the Rox plated their 10th run. It came when Brady Harlan (Oklahoma) singled to score Tyler Finke (Southeastern Louisiana). The Rox held onto a 10-0 lead as the game entered the ninth.
On the mound in the ninth was still right-hander Carter Bosch (Georgetown), the Rox starting pitcher, who had a no-hit bid going into the ninth. Leading off the inning was Alex Dorethy (Western Illinois), he broke up the potential no hitter with a double. Pinch running for Dorethy was Cole Pengilly (Gustavus) who scored later on an infield putout. Sky-lar Culver (Arkansas State) drove in the Dogs second run when he roped a single to score Damon Maynard (Olney Central CC). The Dogs managed to round up three hits and two runs in the ninth, their only scores on the final box score, as they fell 10-2 to the Rox in St. Cloud Thursday night.
Player Notables:
A notable offensive performance was turned in from Maynard (1-3 with a run) for the Dogs. For the Rox it was a duo in Steiger (3-3 with a run and three RBI) and Finke (2-3 with three runs scored and an RBI).
Earning the win was Bosch who went one batter into the ninth. Bosch worked with a no hitter until he allowed his lone hit in the final frame. The one hit surrendered ended up being the lone runner he was responsible for when the reliever came in which came into score. He walked one and struck out six others.
Jimmy Larson (Minnesota State) took the loss for his three innings of work. He was hit six times and gave up five runs. Larson also walked three and struck out two. A solid inning of work came from Conner Campbell (Lander) when he posted a 1-2-3 inning with one strikeout for the MoonDogs in the seventh.
Due up for the Dogs:
The MoonDogs (4-6) head home for two games with the Thunder Bay Border Cats (3-7) beginning tomorrow night. The MoonDogs swept the Border Cats in a two-game series last weekend in Canada. Tomorrow’s game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with the first pitch coming from the MoonDogs notable starter, Tyler Lesley (Angelo State), at Franklin Rogers Park in Mankato, Minn.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 25-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, 225 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), World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS) and MLB All-Stars Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the MoonDogs as your favorite team.
