Powered by a third straight night of strong offense and quality pitching, Rochester secured a series sweep with a 9-0 victory over La Crosse. The Honkers notched double digit hits for a third straight night and recorded their second shutout victory of the summer.

The ballgame began as a pitcher’s duel, with the teams trading zeros through the first four innings. Rochester broke through in the fifth when Zach Cole (Ball St) delivered a sacrifice fly into left to score Benjamin Rosengard (McLennan) to break a scoreless tie.

The Honkers opened the lead with a five-run sixth inning, beginning the frame with three straight hits.  Jack Colette (San Jose St) drove home Jackson Forbes (San Jose St) with an RBI base hit. Mac Horvath (North Carolina) drove in another with an RBI double. After a sac bunt, Cole Fontenelle (Washington) delivered a big blow, a two-RBI single to stretch the lead to five. Two batters later, the freshman would come all the way around from second to score on a wild pitch.

The Honkers added on three runs in the ninth to cap their excellent night at the plate, Jack Colette drove in his second run of the night with another RBI single, Jackson Forbes came across on a passed ball, and Benjamin Rosengard plated a run with a fielder’s choice.

Jackson Forbes, Jack Colette, and Benjamin Rosengard all posted two hit nights, with Colette and Cole Fontenelle driving home four of the nine Rochester runs.

The Honkers were buoyed by a great pitching performance as well, Kenny Lippman, (Denison) Jay Thompson, (Georgia Southern) and Tony Lanier (Augustana) combined to hold the Loggers off the scoreboard.

Lippman tossed five innings of one-hit ball, walking two and striking out five on his way to a win.  He passed the baton to Jay Thompson, who effectively mixed fastball and off-speed in his longest outing of the summer. Thompson went three innings, allowing no hits, just one walk, and struck out six. Tony Lanier came on to record the final three outs and preserve the shutout.

With the win, Rochester climbs back to .500 at 19-19. The Honkers travel to Waterloo to take on the Bucks tomorrow night, first pitch from Riverfront Stadium at 6:35.

By Nick DeLuca// Broadcasting and Media Relations Intern