ROCHESTER, MN. – A season-high 1,755 fans saw a great performance by Rochester’s pitching staff, especially starting pitcher Landon Anderson who pitched seven shutout innings to lead the Honkers to a 1-0 win over the Mankato MoonDogs.
After two quick outs, Anderson (Cal State-Fullerton) gave up a double to MoonDogs’ first baseman Tanner Craig. But that’s as close he would get to scoring as Anderson got the next batter to hit a fly out to Honkers’ first baseman AJ Miller (Oregon) to end the inning.
Mankato once again got a two-out hit, this time a single by Garrett Gilbert, and he stole second base to move into scoring position. However, after Mason Crews hit a single, Gilbert tried to score and was thrown out at home on a great throw by Honkers’ shortstop Andy Armstrong (Oregon State).
While the MoonDogs had three hits but no runs, the Honkers needed just one hit to score their first run of the game. Ryan Ober (Oregon State) led off the bottom of the second with a 340-foot solo home run to give Rochester an early 1-0 lead.
Anderson had one of his best innings of work in the third when he retired the side on just seven pitches.
The Honkers got a double from Armstrong, but couldn’t bring him home as Mankato’s starting pitcher Tyler Lesley proved to be just as good as Anderson outside of the one mistake to Ober.
Mankato got another scoring opportunity in the fourth when Craig and Dayton Dooney drew walks, but Anderson got a fly-out to center field and his third strikeout of the night to end the threat.
Rochester had a great chance to add to their lead in the bottom of the fifth when Mitchell Allen (New Mexico State) hit a single and Vinny Tosti (Oregon) and Zack Zalesky (Oregon State) drew walks to load the bases. Unfortunately, Lesley ended his night on a high note by getting Tristan Peters (New Mexico State) to hit into a double play to end the inning.
Hayden Juenger came in to pitch the last three innings for the MoonDogs and he was lights out by allowing just one hit, but Rochester’s relievers, Marc Bisogno (Fordham) and Keon Taylor (Georgetown College), were just as good as they gave up one hit and one walk in two scoreless innings.
Anderson was named the Profile Sanford Player of the Game for striking out five batters and only allowing five hits in seven shutout innings.
The Honkers’ record improves to 18-13, just 1.5 games behind first-place Willmar.
The Flock travel to Bismarck, North Dakota, to take on the Larks in a two-game series starting on Saturday, June 29. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. The series concludes on Sunday, June 30, at 1:05 p.m. After that, the Honkers return home to face the La Crosse Loggers for the first time this season.
Season tickets and new all-you-can-eat ticket packages are available for purchase right now at www.RochesterHonkers.com or by calling the Honkers front office at 507-289-1170.
The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 26th 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, over 200 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 (MIA). 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.
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