The Honker bats came alive early and the bullpen slammed the door late to earn a second win in a row and fourth in their last five games. A pair of two-run innings propelled Rochester to a 6-5 series opening victory.

The Honkers got out of the gate swinging, Alex Pimentel (Long Beach St) and Zack Raabe (Minnesota) drove back-to-back doubles to give Rochester a lead two batters in. A Wild pitch moved Raabe to third before coming in to score on a Mac Horvath (North Carolina) RBI groundout. Rochester padded its lead in the second when Alex Pimentel drove a sacrifice fly to plate Miguel Ortiz. (Cal St Fullerton)

Wilmar battled back for two in the third, helped by a Rochester error.

The Honkers answered with two in the fourth, Jack Collette (San Jose St) drove home a run with an RBI single, and Zack Raabe notched a second RBI of the night in the frame. Rochester added a sixth run in the fifth, Miguel Ortiz continued his hot hitting with an RBI single to bring home JJ Cruz. (Cal St Fullerton)

The Stingers scored twice in the next three innings to pull within two in the ninth. A pair of base hits and an error move the tying run to scoring position, but Jay Thompson (Georgia Southern) struck out TJ Curd (Arizona) to nail down the win and earn the save.

Brant Alazaus was the winning pitcher for Rochester, allowing three runs on six hits with three strikeouts.

Rochester improves to 9-12, seeking a series sweep in Wilmar tomorrow.

By Nick DeLuca//Broadcasting and Media Relations Intern