(Rochester, Minn.) – Rochester Honkers starting pitcher Ryan Dorney (St. Martin’s) tossed a five-hit complete game and the Honkers offense put up 13 runs to defeat the Eau Claire Express 13-5 Wednesday at Carson Park. The sweep puts the Honkers at 13-13 in the second half and 30-32 overall. The Express drop to 11-14 and 24-36.
The Honkers took the lead in the third as Alex McGarry (Oregon State) drove in Nate Webb (UC Riverside) with a single to put the Honkers up 1-0. McGarry was driven on another single off the bat of Logan Denholm (UC Davis).
Rochester was able to rally for four runs in the sixth. Taylor Adams (Oregon) got the rally started as he crushed his first home run of the year to push the Honkers lead to 3-0. Christian Robinson (Stanford) ripped a two-RBI single to extend the Honkers lead to 5-0. Michael Michalak (Illinois) hit a single of his own to bring in a run and cap off the scoring in the sixth.
The Honkers broke the game open with a seven run seventh inning. Casey Dunlap (Point Loma Nazarene) and Michalak each drew a walk with the bases loaded to bring in a run. Denholm drove in three runs with a single to extend the Rochester lead to 11-0. Grayson Bowman (Blue Mountain) roped a two-RBI double to the gap to put the Honkers up 13-0.
The Express were able to rally for five runs in the ninth. Cody Milligan (Oklahoma State) singled to bring in the first run for the Express to cut the Honkers lead to 13-1. David LaManna (Notre Dame) brought in three more runs for Eau Claire with a double. LaManna came around to score on a dropped third strike to cut Rochester’s lead to 13-5.
Bowman had a productive day on offense for the Honkers as he went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Adams went 3-for-6 and came around to score a run. Denholm and Webb each added two hits for Rochester.
Dorney picked up his second win in his complete game performance. He had a shutout going until surrendering five runs in the ninth. The right-hander struck out eight and walked just one.
Eau Claire starting pitcher Justin Revels (Illinois-Springfield) took the loss for the Express. Revels gave up six runs on eight hits in five innings of work.
The Honkers are back at Mayo Field Thursday to take on the St. Cloud Rox. Will Warren (Southeastern Louisiana) is scheduled to start for the Rox, Warren has compiled a 0-4 record and a 6.68 ERA. The Honkers starting pitcher is to be determined. Thursday is Team Up/Miracle Night presented by Meshbesher & Spence. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 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.
