(Rochester, Minn.)— The Rochester Honkers dropped the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Alexandria 5-3 in seven innings after holding a 3-0 lead as late as the sixth. Matt Walker (UCLA) would be charged with the loss for Rochester. Josh Baumgart (Creighton) picked up the win for Alexandria, while Eric White (Dallas Baptist) got the save.
Walker took a bid for a perfect game into the fifth inning in just his second start for the Honkers this season, before giving up a single with two outs in the fifth.
Rochester was the first to break through, as Cole Krzmarzick (Nevada) would come in on a hit-and-run RBI single from Dempsey Grover (UC Santa Barbara) in the fourth inning.
Mark Contreras would bring Joe DeRoche-Duffin (UCONN) in with a single in the fifth, and William Paschal (Georgia Gwinnett), the hero of game one, would bring Grover in with a double in the sixth as the Honkers took a 3-0 lead.
Alexandria would get their bats fired up at the right time however. After breaking up Walkers perfect game in the fifth, the Blue Anchors would do some damage against the freshman from UCLA as they would pour in five runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 5-3 lead.
The Honkers would not muster a hit in their final time at bat, splitting the double header.
In game one, Paschal would score on a throwing error by Alexandria in the bottom of the seventh for his second walk off of 2015. The Honkers played as the home team as the two teams made up a game postponed from June 12th that had originally been scheduled to be played in Rochester.
Ricky Delgado (San Joaquin Delta CC) earned the win for Rochester, while Mitch Larson (Nebraska-Omaha) was charged with the loss after facing just one batter, Paschal. Honker’s starter Jordan Gross (Tulane) had a quality start, going six innings and allowing three runs on 8 hits
The Honkers jumped on top in the bottom of the first inning on a two run home run from Duffin and held that lead into the fifth inning, when the Blue Anchors would plate a pair of runs of their own for a tie ballgame.
Rochester would waste little time in reclaiming the lead, though, as Matt Fiedler (Minnesota) would bring in Miles Mastrobuoni (College of San Mateo) with a sacrifice fly to center field in the bottom of the fifth to put the Honkers up 3-2.
Alexandria would score once in the sixth to force another tie, and it was still 3-3 heading to the bottom of the seventh.
Paschal would lead off in the seventh, and lifted a full count pitch from Larson to the warning track for a triple. The throw to hold him up at third would roll into the dugout, allowing him to take home for his second walk off of the season. He also walked off against Thunder Bay in Rochester earlier this month with an RBI single in the 10th inning.
The Honkers are now 10-9 in the second half and sit in sixth place in the North Division, though they are just a game behind second place Duluth. At 30-23 overall, the Honkers it at fourth in the division for the season, clinging to what would currently be the last playoff spot by two games.
The Honkers and Blue Anchors will play once more on Sunday, July 19th, at 1:05 p.m., before heading into the All Star Break. The 2015 NWL All Star Game will be in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. on July 21st. Jayson Yano (Stevens Institute) will be the Honkers lone representative on the North Division squad. The Marshfield Home Run Contest will precede the All-Star game, with Duffin getting the nod in to represent Rochester in that one. The Honkers will be back in Rochester on Thursday, July 23rd, to face the Eau Claire Express at 12:05 p.m. It will be Kids "3 Buck" Day presented by Perkins. Kids 12 and under will gain admission for just $3! It will also be a Novo Nordisk Home Run for Life Thursday.
All of the Honkers games can be found live on Sports Radio AM 1520 The Ticket with Clinton Cole. You can also listen for free at www.rochesterhonkers.com by clicking on the Listen to Games Live link. Live video streams of the games are available via the Northwoods league Live Stream, powered by Stretch Internet. To access, just visit www.northwoodsleague.com and click on the Watch Games Live link at the bottom of the page.
The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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, more than 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit www.rochesterhonkers.com
