(Rochester, Minn.) – On the back of Christian Robinson’s (Stanford) two-hit four-RBI game, the Rochester Honkers were able to end the first half of the season on a high note as they defeated the Duluth Huskies 8-3 on Tuesday at Wade Stadium. Tuesday marked the end of the first half of the Northwoods League season. The Honkers finished with a 17-19 record as the Huskies finished 24-12.
Honker’s starting pitcher Zak Devermann (Illinois) turned in a dominant performance to get his second win of the year. The lefty tossed seven innings giving up just one run on three hits and struck out five. Zach Sundine (Lamar CC) came in relief to toss two innings and allowed two runs on three hits.
Alex Baeza (Hawaii) gave himself his fifth multi-hit game of the year collecting two hits and driving in two for the Honkers offense. Michael Michalak (Illinois) had his fourth straight multi-hit game going 2-for-5. Casey Dunlap (Point Loma Nazarene) finished the game going 3-for-3 and added an RBI.
Robinson got the Honkers on the board in the first as he crushed a three-run home run to give him his second homer of the year.
Robinson got another rally started in the third with a RBI single to extend the Honkers lead to 4-0. Two batters later, Baeza drove in two more runs with a double.
The Huskies got on the board in the third as Nicholas Sogard (Loyola Marymount) singled to cut the Honkers lead to 6-1.
Rochester got the run back in the sixth as Baeza reached on a single and was later driven in on a double by Dunlap.
The Honkers added more insurance runs in the eighth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Andy Armstrong (Oregon State) to give the Honkers an 8-1 lead.
The Huskies fought back in the eighth as Justin Mitchell (Oklahoma) drove in a run with a single to cut the Rochester lead to 8-2.
Duluth continued to fight back in the ninth tacking on another run as Sam Baier (Augustana) came around to score on a fielder’s choice.
Zac Shoemaker (Missouri Southern) was the losing pitcher for Duluth, he threw 3 1/3 innings giving up six runs on seven hits.
The Honkers open the second half of the season in La Crosse against the Loggers on Wednesday. Cole Quintanilla (Texas) is scheduled to make his sixth start for the Honkers, he has 0-1 record and a 6.58 ERA. Quintanilla will be up against Hunter Davis (Duke) from La Crosse, Davis has a 1-0 record and a 1.86 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 p.m.
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The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.rochesterhonkers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Honkers as your favorite team.
