Rochester overcame an early deficit for a second straight night, scoring six times in the seventh and eighth innings to earn the series-opening victory. The Honker bullpen worked five straight scoreless innings to close out a fourth straight win.

The Mudpuppies used a bases-loaded walk to jump on the board first in the second inning. Rochester held the Minnesota bats silent for the remaining seven innings of the ballgame.

The Honkers came back to tie the score in the fourth, Alex Pimentel (Long Beach St) lined a single to left, and an error allowed Ben North (Creighton) to score.

The game remained tied at one until the seventh thanks to excellent work by the Rochester bullpen. Ben Grable (Northwestern) was lights out in middle relief. The sophomore tossed three shutout innings, allowing just one hit, no walks, and seven strikeouts. He retired the final nine hitters he faced in order after the first two reached.

The Honkers took control with a four-run seventh inning, loading the bases with two outs for Benjamin Rosengard. (Rice) The sophomore smacked a two-run single to right to give Rochester its first lead. Jack Colette (San Jose St) scored on a steal and a Ben North double brought home Rosengard to cap the inning.

The Honkers tacked on two more runs in the eighth to extend their lead, Miguel Ortiz (Cal St Fullerton) launched his first home run of the summer and, three batters later Jackson Forbes (San Jose St) extended his on-base streak to 28 with an RBI double to right-center.

On the mound, Ryan Cowdrey (Creighton) earned his first win of the summer with two scoreless innings, and Tony Lanier (Augustana) nailed down the final three outs.

With the win, Rochester returns to .500 at 24-24 and improves to 9-7 in the second half. They shoot for a fifth straight win in the series finale with the Mudpuppies tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 from Mayo Field.

Nick DeLuca//Broadcasting and Media Relations Intern