In a game that was preceded by a two-hour and twenty-minute rain delay, the Honkers fell short in a pitchers’ duel in a 2-1 loss to the St. Cloud Rox.
After two scoreless innings to open the ballgame, Rochester plated its lone run in the 3rd inning. Mike Bolton Jr. (Purdue) reached after being hit by a pitch and promptly stole second. The next batter, his Purdue teammate Cam Thompson, drilled a double off the left field wall to give the Honkers the lead.
Rochester stayed in front until the bottom of the 6th inning. A Justin Kirby (Kent St.) single began the inning for St. Cloud, and after a pair of outs in the inning, set the stage for a game-tying RBI triple off the bat of Chris Esposito. (Nebraksa-Omaha)
The teams traded zeros heading into the 9th inning. The Rox leadoff hitter Nate Swarts (Washington St.) worked a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and came around to score the winning run on Jordan Barth’s walk off single. (Augustana)
The starting pitching for both sides was outstanding. Aaron Vernon (Benedictine Mesa) gave the Honkers five shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. His opposite number, Johnny Dow, (Georgia Highlands) was equally impressive, allowing just 1 earned run over 7 innings, walking none and recording 7 strikeouts. Andrew Morones (San Joaquin Delta College) got the win for St. Cloud, tossing 2 innings of scoreless relief.
With the loss, Rochester drops both legs of the home and home and are 4-6 on the season. They are off the next four days but return to action Monday to take on Mankato from Mayo Field.
By// Nick DeLuca Broadcasting and Media Relations Intern
