(Rochester, Minn.)—Tonight, it was the Honkers who kept the MoonDogs off of the scoreboard for the entirety of Thursday’s game in Rochester. Starting pitcher Ryan Fritze (Des Moines Area CC) pitched 7 innings, allowing just 3 hits and no runs. Normally likened to strike out his opposition, Fritze relied on the groundball out to aid him in his gem. Fritze struck out two batters in his first inning work on his way to retiring the first 10 MoonDogs that stepped up to the plate.

Rochester faced some strong pitching themselves again from Mankato, collecting just 5 hits in the game, but slugged it out when it counted most. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Karl Sorenson ripped a loud two-run homerun over the left field wall on a 2-0 count from MoonDogs starter Ethan Greene (Pfeiffer). The Honkers turned Greene’s start into another hard-luck loss.

Fritze allowed his first baserunner in the top of the 4th inning when Brinn Bell (Blackhawk College) doubled, but Fritze would strand Bell at second base and retire the next two batters in order. Through his 7 innings of work – and Jeff Campbell’s (North Dakota) relief appearance that would follow – the MoonDogs were never really threatening to score on the Honkers pitching staff Thursday night.

Tanner Buenting (Iowa Central CC) would double in Jordan Smith (Minnesota) with two outs in the bottom of the 7th inning to add an all-important fourth run to help pad the Honkers’ lead headed into the final two innings of the game.

Campbell came on strong in his first appearance of the season on the mound for Honkers, pitching 2 innings allowing just a single baserunner in the form of a walk.

So, after the final out of Thursday’s ballgame, the Honkers returned to their winning ways, picking up their seventh win of the season, putting the club at 7-3 overall. The Honkers will head out to Duluth tomorrow, Friday, for a two-game series with the Huskies before they head back home for an afternoon game on Sunday to duke it out with the MoonDogs once again. Friday’s first pitch is at 6:35 p.m. and Sunday’s first pitch in Rochester will be at 1:05 p.m., marking the first day game of the season hosted at Mayo Field. Ticket information is available at rochesterhonkers.com.

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The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark