(Rochester, Minn.) – For the second night in a row, the division leading Duluth Huskies offense caught fire as they defeated the Rochester Honkers 10-4 Tuesday at Wade Stadium. The win was the Huskies sixth straight as they move to 18-6 in the second half and 42-18 overall. The Honkers drop to 11-13 and 28-32.
The Huskies were able to put two runs on the board in the third. Nicholas Sogard (Loyola Marymount) grounded into a fielder’s choice to bring in the first run of the game. Sean Watkins (Cal State LA) grounded into a fielder’s choice of his own to bring home a run and put Duluth up 2-0.
Watkins again grounded into a fielder’s choice that brought in a run to put the Huskies up 3-0 in the fifth. Augie Isaacson (Friends) came around to score on a Honker error that made the score 4-0.
In the sixth Duluth rallied for five runs. Tony Monroy (Georgetown) ripped an RBI single to extend the Duluth lead to 5-0. Isaacson gave the Huskies a 6-0 lead roping a RBI single of his own. Carlos Moseley (Cumberland) crushed a three-run home run to put the Huskies up 9-0.
The Honkers were able to fight back in the seventh, Nate Webb (UC Riverside) singled to bring in a run for Rochester and cut the Duluth lead to 9-1. Matt Hardy (UC Riverside) was able to draw a walk with the bases loaded to bring home another run for the Honkers.
The Honkers came back to put two more runs on the board in the eighth. Grayson Bowman (Blue Mountain) drove in his first run of the year with a ground out to second. Casey Dunlap (Point Loma Nazarene) came around to score on a pass ball and cut the Huskies lead to 9-4.
The Huskies were able to add one more in the eighth. Sogard came in to score on a wild pitch to give Duluth their 10th run.
Honkers starting pitcher Zak Devermann (Illinois) was tagged with his fourth loss of the year despite tossing a complete game. Devermann worked eight innings and surrendered 10 runs on 10 hits. Just six of the runs were earned runs.
Webb had the lone multi-hit game for the Honkers. He went 2-for-5 to give himself his sixth multi-hit game.
Duluth starting pitcher Hunter Bigge (Harvard) was rewarded with his fourth win of the year. Bigge worked six shutout innings and gave up five hits.
The Honkers travel to Eau Claire Wednesday to take on the Express in a doubleheader. Logan Nissen (Bethany Lutheran) is scheduled to start for the Honkers. Nissen is yet to give up a run through five innings. Manny Castellano (Cumberlands) is scheduled to start for the Express, the left-hander has posted a 1-1 record and a 2.73 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. The Honkers and the Express play the nightcap at 7:05 p.m.
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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.
