DULUTH, MINN – The Rochester Honkers won their third game in the last four tries Monday night, defeating the Duluth Huskies 10-5 at Wade Stadium. 

Brant Alazaus (Walsh) got the start for Rochester against the Duluth hurler Jake Hamilton (Oklahoma Baptist). The Huskies scored a run on a RBI single off the bat of Joe Vos (St. Thomas) to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Alazaus bounced back afterwards and his lineup gave him the lead in the fourth. 

The Honkers railed for four two out runs against Jake Hamilton after he struck out nine through three and two thirds innings. Tyler White (Long Beach State) tied the game with an RBI single and AJ Campbell (Frostburg State) gave the Honkers the lead with a three run double off the wall in right center field. 

Alazaus took the 4-1 lead and made it stick. He got into and out of trouble all night. In his six innings he didn’t retire the leadoff batter once but he held Duluth to two earned runs over six innings, stranding eight Huskies on base. Duluth had a runner in scoring position in every inning against Alazaus, but he battled out of jams in every inning. His biggest moment was striking out Jared Mettam (St. Mary’s) on his 114th pitch with runners on second and first to keep the Honkers ahead in the sixth and conclude his outing. 

Ahead 4-3 entering the eighth the Honkers blew the game wide open. Alex Ritzer (UNC) drove in a run with a ground ball and then the Honkers drew three consecutive bases loaded walks. Alex Pimentel (Long Beach State), Michael Carico (Davidson) and Michael Brown (Washington) all walked with the bases loaded and Kimo Fukofuka (San Jose State) drove in the fifth run of the inning with a hit by pitch. 

The five run inning made it 9-3 and the Honkers would add another in the ninth to win 10-5. Five runs is the Honkers largest margin of victory this season and 10 runs is a season high. Rochester will continue this four game road trip tomorrow night as they begin a two game series against the Willmar Stingers. The Honkers look to improve to .500 for the first time since they were 1-1. Noah Rooney (University of Minnesota) will make the start for Rochester. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.