Rochester was unable to take advantage of traffic on the bases, falling a hit or two short in a 4-3 loss to the Mankato Moondogs. The Honker bats left ten men on base in the ballgame.

Mankato scored twice in the first three innings, a two-out RBI single by Cole Andavolgyi (Golden West College) plated Matthew Higgins (Bellarmine) in the first, and second Andavolgyi RBI came across on a sacrifice fly.

With an early lead, Ivran Romero (San Diego) cruised on the mound for Mankato. The right hander held Rochester without a hit through his five innings of work, walking three and striking out two on his way to a win.

The Mankato lead would stay 2-0 until the sixth, when a Will Hanfan (Creighton) leadoff walk was followed by a pair of RBI doubles by Kole Kayler (Hawaii) and Adam Fogel (Hawaii) to stretch the lead to four.

The Honkers would battle back for their lone runs of the ballgame in the bottom half, after the first two outs of the innings were recorded, three straight walks loaded the bases for the Jackson Forbes. The Freshman from San Jose State making his Rochester debut smacked a bases clearing double to left to bring the Honkers within a run.

The Honkers weren’t quite able to close the gap, pushing the tying run into scoring position but unable to capitalize.

Rochester falls to 5-7 with the loss and welcome the St. Cloud Rox to Mayo Field on Thursday with first pitch at 6:35.

Nick DeLuca//Broadcasting and Media Relations Intern