(Rochester, Minn.) – A two-run ninth inning double off the bat of Kyle Stevens (Murray State) broke an 8-8 tie to lead the Bismarck Larks past the Rochester Honkers 11-8 on Friday at Mayo Field. The Larks improved their record to 11-7 as the Honkers fell to 10-8.
The loss comes despite the Honkers launching three home runs in the series finale. Alex McGarry (Oregon State) played his first game as a Honker tonight and ripped a game-tying three-run home run. Christian Robinson (Stanford) went 2-for-5 and hit his first home run of the year. Additionally, Michael Michalak (Illinois) launched a solo home run.
Rochester starting pitcher Cole Quintanilla (Texas) tossed three innings and surrendered one run on three hits. Alex Baeza (Hawaii) gave up four runs on three hits in the one inning he worked. Reed Hjelle (Minnesota-Crookston) threw two innings giving up one run on two hits. Casey Dunlap (Point Loma Nazarene) threw 2/3 of an inning giving up two runs. Connor Barrett (Point Loma Nazarene) threw 1/3 of an inning getting the third out to end the seventh. Zak Devermann (Illinois) worked a clean eighth inning to hold the Larks at eight runs. Michael Brandt (Augustana) got his first loss of the year after giving up three runs in the ninth.
The Larks got on the board in the first as Michael Farnell (Murray State) singled to right to bring home one. Robinson (Stanford) responded with a home run to tie the game at one in the first.
Robinson gave the Honkers the lead in the third as he singled to right to bring home a run. The Larks came back with a big four-run fourth inning as Ripken Reyes (California) drove home two with a single. Brandon Barna (Alcorn State) drove in his 14th run of the year with a single. Cristian Montes (Stony Brook) came around to score on a wild pitch to put Bismarck up 5-2.
McGarry (Oregon State) tied the game up in the fourth with one swing of the bat, ripping a three-run home run.
Bismarck broke the tie game as Jacob Nesbit (Arkansas) drove in a run with a single to right. The Larks took a one run lead in the seventh on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Reyes.
Michalak came up in the seventh and tied the game at eight with his second home run of the year.
Stevens gave the Larks the lead in the ninth with a two-run double and later came around to score on a wild pitch.
The Honkers will be heading to Canada for a two-game series with the Thunder Bay Border Cats. Drew Slade (Ripon) is scheduled to start for Rochester, he will be up against Connor Centala (North Carolina State) from Thunder Bay. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. on Saturday.
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The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball,including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). 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.
