The Honkers hung on in a game that featured 23 walks, doing all the scoring in the fourth and sixth innings on their way to an 8-6 series-opening win. Rochester had heavy traffic on the bases throughout the night, using a pair of Duluth errors to create separation in the ballgame.

Trailing by a run in the fourth, the Honkers struck for five runs without a hit. Rochester opened the inning working three straight walks, with a double-play ball evening the score at one. After two more Honkers free passes, Benjamin Rosengard (Rice) brought home another run with a walk.

One batter later, Mac Horvath (North Carolina) lifted a fly ball that was mishandled in the left field. The error cleared the bases to cap a five-run inning.

Rochester tacked on to the lead with three runs in the sixth. Zach Meddings (Delta) lined his first homer of the summer of the left-field wall. The Honkers would tack on two more runs on an error in the frame.

Duluth battled back with a five-run eighth, headlined by a Ryan McDonald (South Dakota St) grand slam.

Frank Craska (Lafayette) was able to hold off the comeback attempt, nailing down the final three outs to earn a save in his Honkers debut.
The Honker bullpen excelled once again, Ben Grable (Northwestern) tossed 2.2 scoreless innings.

With the win, Rochester improves to 27-29 and 12-12 in the second half. The team is off tomorrow and wraps up the series with Duluth on Wednesday at 6:35 at Mayo Field.

By Nick DeLuca//Broadcasting and Media Relations Intern