ROCHESTER, MINN – The Rochester Honkers lost to the Duluth Huskies 5-2 on Sunday night in game one of a two game series at Mayo Field. 

Honkers ace Brant Alazaus (Walsh) took the mound for Rochester and wasn’t his usual ace self. He struggled from the jump. The Rochester starter threw 31 pitches in the first inning and allowed a run on an Eduardo Rosario (Nebraska Omaha) sacrifice fly. However, the Honkers quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning. After a Michael Carico (Davidson) two out single Alex Pimentel (Long Beach State) tied the game with a two run double. 

The Huskies re-took the lead for the good in the third. Eduardo Rosario once again drove in a run, this time an RBI groundout to make it 2-1. Duluth added two more in the fourth on a Devin Hurdle (Nebraska Omaha) solo home run and Ambren Voitik (Grand Canyon) scored on a Michael Carico throwing error. They took a 5-1 lead in the fifth after Rosario drove in his third run of the night with an RBI single. 

Rochester got a run back in the fifth on a Nico Regino (Charleston Southern) RBI single but that’s all they could muster. They brought up the tying run to the plate later in the inning but Kimo Fukofuka (San Jose State) hit into a double play. In the seventh he was at the plate again, this time representing the go-ahead run with the bases loaded and two outs but he flew out to deep left field to end the inning. 

The Honkers went down in order in the eighth and ninth dropping game one 5-2. Rochester falls to 7-12 this summer and 2-2 on this five game homestand. They will look for a split of the series and a winning homestand tomorrow night with Noah Rooney (Minnesota) on the mound. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. at Mayo Field.