(Rochester, Minn.) – The Rochester Honkers (9-14 Second Half, 25-33 Overall) fell to the Duluth Huskies (13-13, 28-33) by a score of 6-3 Monday night at Mayo Field. Zach Zubia (Texas) hit his league-leading 19th home run of the season in the third inning, tying the single-season team record held by Jason Washam in 1994. It was also the 68th home run by the Honkers as a team this season, which tied the single-season Northwoods League record held by the 2012 Honkers.
Duluth jumped out to a 5-0 lead with runs in each of the first three innings. A solo home run by Chase Strumpf (UCLA) to left-center field with two outs in the top of the first inning gave Duluth the first lead of the game. After an RBI single by Jake Smith (St. Thomas) in the top of the second inning, the Huskies scored three runs on four consecutive singles in the third inning.
Zubia hit a two-run home run to center field in the bottom of the third inning, which brought in Morgan McCullough (Oregon) to score and cut the Duluth lead to three runs.
The bases were loaded with two outs for Zubia in the bottom of the fourth inning. Zubia hit a deep line drive to left field, but the ball was caught for the final out of the inning.
Trailing 6-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Weston Hatten (Nevada) singled to center field with two outs, scoring David Noworyta (Hawaii).
Joe Gonrowski (St. Scholastica) pitched a clean ninth inning to pick up his third save of the season.
The Honkers bullpen threw six and one-third innings, allowing one run on six hits. Griffin Neuer (Bellarmine) pitched 2.1 scoreless innings and struck out two batters.
Ricky Mitchell (Morningside) earned the win (2-0) for the Huskies. He pitched four innings in relief, giving up one run on four hits while striking out one batter and walking one.
Manny Armendariz (Doane) took the loss (3-2) for the Honkers. He pitched 2.2 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits while striking out three batters and walking three.
The Honkers will finish the series against the Duluth Huskies tomorrow, August 1, at Mayo Field. It will be Emoji Movie Night, presented by CineMagic Theatres. The first 250 fans will receive a free movie ticket. There will also be three $100 prize buckets given away. Ryan Thompson (Illinois) is scheduled to pitch for the Honkers. Thompson has struck out 35 batters in 35 innings this season. Ryan Tapani (Creighton) is scheduled to pitch for the Huskies. Tapani is 1-0 this season with a 1.52 ERA in 23.2 innings.
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The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 180 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.rochesterhonkers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Honkers as your favorite team.
