(Rochester, Minn.)- The Rochester Honkers dropped the second game of their series against the Eau Claire Express Friday night 4-2. Tyler Feyereisen (St. Thomas) was charged with the loss for Rochester, but showed improvement from his starts before the All-Star break, making it through the fifth inning, after being pulled due to the pitch count in the first and second in his previous two starts. Bryce Hensley (Catawba CC) earned his first win of the season for the Express, while Victor Sanchez (New Mexico) got the save.
Eau Claire took a 1-0 lead in the third, but Miles Mastrobuoni (College of San Mateo) hit an RBI double in the bottom if the inning that brought in Cole Krzmarzick (Nevada) and evened it at 1-1 with non outs. The Honkers would load the bases in that same inning with one out, but the Express would escape on a 4-6-3 double play.
The game would be broken open in the fifth inning, as the Express would plate three runs and take a 4-1 lead.
Matt Fiedler (Minnesota) would hit a solo home run, his fifth homer of the year, in the sixth for the Honkers to cut into Eau Claire’s lead and make it 4-2, but the Honkers would be unable to make a full comeback and drop their second game to Eau Claire in as many days.
With the loss the Honkers are 10-12 in the second half, and sit at seventh in the standings leapfrogged by Eau Claire. For the season, the Honkers are 30-26 and continue to hold a 1.5 game lead over Waterloo for the final playoff spot in the division.
The Honkers next home game will be Sunday, July 26th, at 1:05 p.m. against the Waterloo Bucks. It will be Bolder Options Day, presented by Perkins, Olmstead National Bank, Manpower & ABC 6 News. There will be a Silent Auction of game worn jerseys to benefit Bolder Options. It will also be the fourth annual MN Renaissance Festival Day, and a Perkins Kids Club Day.
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
