(Rochester, Minn.) – The Rochester Honkers (9-15 Second Half, 25-34 Overall) lost to the Duluth Huskies (14-13, 29-33) by a score of 10-3 Tuesday night at Mayo Field. Zach Zubia (Texas) and Kenyon Yovan (Oregon) hit home runs for the Honkers, rewriting multiple team and league records. Konnor Zickefoose (UC Irvine) also extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a double in the sixth inning.
Zubia started the night by hitting his 20th home run of the season, a solo home run to right-center field with two outs in the bottom of the first inning. He has now hit a home run in three consecutive games. The home run broke the Honkers single-season individual home run record and tied the Northwoods League single-season record. The home run was the 69th hit by the Honkers as a team, which also broke a Northwoods League single-season record.
After being held without a hit in the first three innings by the Rochester starting pitcher, Ryan Thompson (Illinois), Duluth scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Rob Emery (San Francisco) tied the game on a sacrifice fly to right field. Four batters later, Rudy Karre (Kansas) put the Huskies on top with a two-out RBI single to left field.
After a leadoff walk by Zubia, Yovan gave the Honkers a 3-2 lead with a two-run home run to left-center field, his fourth of the season.
Four Huskies scored on four hits in the top of the fifth inning, including a two-RBI double to left field by Chase Strumpf (UCLA) that reclaimed the lead.
Leading 9-3 in the top of the ninth inning, Gabe Knowles (Minnesota) capped off the night for Duluth with a solo home run to right field, his first of the season.
Honker relievers Spencer Johnson (Wayne State) and Hunter Sullivan (Louisville) combined to throw 2.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Ryan Tapani (Creighton) earned the win (2-0) for the Huskies. He pitched six innings, giving up three runs on four hits while striking out two batters and walking one.
Thompson took the loss (1-5) for the Honkers. He pitched 4.1 innings, giving up six runs on six hits while striking out three batters and walking four.
The Honkers have an off day tomorrow before a four-game road trip against the Bismarck Larks starting on Thursday, August 3. First pitch from Bismarck Municipal Ballpark is 7:05 p.m. Chia-Ching Ho (National Taiwan Sports University) is scheduled to pitch for the Honkers. Ho is 2-2 this season with a 4.14 ERA.
The next home game for the Flock will be a doubleheader on Monday, August 7, against the Thunder Bay Border Cats. It will be One Hit Wonder Night with Minnesota 97.5 FM. If the Honkers hold Thunder Bay to one hit in game one, then someone will win $10,000. Anyone 18 years or older may sign to win for free at the game. First pitch of game one starts at 6:05 p.m. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. Game two will begin 30 minutes after the completion of game one.
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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.
