(Rochester, Minn.)- The Rochester Honkers defeated the Duluth Huskies 5-4 Sunday night, their first win over Duluth in four tries this season. Patrick Duester (Tulane) earned the win for the Honkers, while Spencer Greer (Dixie State) got his sixth save of 2015. Jordan Cummings (Winston Salem St.) was charged with the loss for Duluth.
Mark Contreras (UC-Riverside) had two hits, a run scored and two RBIs on the night for Rochester, one a two-run home run in the fourth.
The Huskies scored a run in bottom of the first inning, and held a 1-0 lead until Contreras’ homer in the fourth that brought Cole Krzmarzick (Nevada) in and gave the Honkers a 2-1 lead.
The lead stretched to 4-1 when Adam Walton (Illinois) brought Krzmarzick and Ryan Summers (Louisville) on his two RBI double in the sixth, but Duluth scored one run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to tie the game at 4-all with two innings to go.
With two outs in the top of the eighth, Krzmarzick scored his third run of the day on Dempsey Grover’s (UC Santa Barbara) RBI single to give the Honkers a 5-4 lead that would hold as Greer would allow just one hit by the Huskies in the final two innings.
The Honkers will be off tomorrow before coming back to Rochester on Tuesday, June 30th, to face the Waterloo Bucks at 12:05 p.m. at Mayo Field. It will be Kids 3 Buck Day, presented by Perkins, where all kids 12 and under can get into the game for just three dollars. It will be the first game of a split double header. The second game will be in Waterloo at 7:05 that night. These will be the first two games in the Honkers' and Bucks' competition for the Scheel's Highway 63 Cup this season. The Cup is awarded to the winner of the season series between Rochester and Waterloo.
You can follow all the Honkers action on Sports Radio AM 1520 The Ticket with Clinton Cole, and on the Northwoods League Live stream, which can be found at northwoodsleague.com. Just click on the Watch Games Live link.
The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit www.rochesterhonkers.com
