(Rochester, Minn.) – A three-run eighth inning proved to be the difference maker for the La Crosse Loggers as they defeated the Rochester Honkers 7-6 on Thursday in the completion of a game suspended on Wednesday by rain. For the two teams, the game was the first of the second half as the Loggers improve to a 1-0 second half record and the Honkers fall to 0-1.
Matt Hardy (UC Riverside) led the way on offense for the Honkers, he hit a solo home run to give him his third homer of the year and his second in three games. Hardy added another RBI to his stat line with a sacrifice fly. Christian Robinson (Stanford) and Alex Baeza (Hawaii) each went 2-for-4 for Rochester.
Honkers starting pitcher Cole Quintanilla (Texas) tossed one scoreless inning but, his outing was cut short due to the rain suspending the contest. Darin Kilfoyl (Saint Johns River State) tossed 2 2/3 innings surrendering three runs on two hits. Ryan Dorney (St. Martin’s) came in relief to throw 2 1/3 innings giving up one run and striking out five. Kevin West (UC Riverside) tossed one inning without allowing a base runner. Michael Brandt (Augustana) was tagged with his third loss of the year after throwing a 1/3 of an inning surrendering three runs.
Mike Rothenberg (Duke) got the Loggers on the board in the fourth ripping a solo home run to put La Crosse up 1-0. The Loggers took a 3-0 lead later in the inning thanks to a two-run single off the bat of Bryce Blaum (Texas A&M).
The Honkers closed the gap with a two-run fifth inning. Mike Peabody (UC Irvine) grounded into a fielder’s choice to make the score 3-1. Andy Armstrong (Oregon State) drove in the second run of the inning with a single up the middle.
La Crosse added another run in the fifth as Nick Lewis (South Alabama) singled to push the Loggers lead to 4-2.
The Honkers cut the lead in the sixth as Hardy launched a towering home run to make the score 4-3.
Peabody got the Honkers started in the seventh coming around to score on a wild pitch to tie the game at four. Michael Michalak (Illinois) gave Rochester a 5-4 lead on a RBI single to center. Hardy drove in a run with a deep sacrifice fly to put the Honkers up 6-4.
The Loggers rallied back in the eighth as Armani Smith (UC Santa Barbara) scored on a throwing error. Shane McGuire (San Diego) tied the game at six for the Loggers with a sacrifice fly to left. Harrison Freed (Butler) drove in the winning run for the Loggers on a double to right center.
Stephen Knapp (Bellevue) picked up his first win in relief for La Crosse. He worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out one.
The Honkers and Loggers will play the scheduled game at 8:25 p.m. The contest will consist of seven innings. Tristan Stevens (Texas) is scheduled to start for the Honkers. The right-hander has a 2.57 ERA in seven innings pitched. Christian Roa (Texas A&M) is scheduled to throw for La Crosse, he has a 0-1 record and a 4.86 ERA.
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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.
