Rochester showed resiliency in battling back from a two-run ninth-inning deficit to earn a come-from-behind 4-3 win in ten innings over Bismarck. The Honkers used strong pitching and took advantage of enough of their opportunities at the plate.
Rochester took a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning on the strength of another strong performance on the mound by Brant Alazaus. (Walsh) The junior began the night with seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit.
All told, Alazaus worked 7.2 innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs, no walks, and two strikeouts.
Bismarck tied it in the eighth on a second single of the inning off the bat of Drew Beazley (South Dakota St) with the help of a Honker error. The Larks took their first lead of the night three batters later, scoring on a wild pitch and widening the gap on a Ryan Curran (Montevallo) RBI double.
Trailing by two in the ninth, the Honkers stormed back to tie the ballgame. Nico Regino (Delta) doubled to move runners to second and third with one out. A Jackson Forbes (San Jose St) infield single brought Rochester within a run. Down to their final strike with the bases loaded, Cole Fontenelle (Washington) worked a walk to knot the game.
In the tenth, Alex Pimentel (Long Beach St) began the inning on second, stole third, and advanced on home on a throwing error for what turned out to be the winning run.
Patrick Williams (Lipscomb) earned the win in relief, allowing one run in 2.1 innings and stranding the tying run at third in the bottom of the tenth.
Rochester’s second baseman Jackson Forbes finished the night 1-4 with a walk and a pair of RBIs. With his seventh-inning walk, the San Jose St Freshman matched a Honkers-record 37-game on-base streak set by Torre Tyson in 1996.
With the win, the Honkers improve to 28-30 on the summer and 13-13 in the second half. They continue their series with Bismarck at 6:35 tomorrow night at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark. The game can be streamed on the Rochester Honkers Radio Network (HonkersBroadcast) on MIXLR.
By Nick DeLuca//Broadcasting and Media Relations Intern
