Thunder Bay, ON – One day after being postponed due to rain, the St. Cloud Rox and Thunder Bay Border Cats each took a game from each other in a doubleheader Friday at Tbaytel Park with scores of 4-1 and 2-0 to round out the evening. Rox pitcher Nick McCarty (2-0) went six innings plus for St. Cloud, scattering nine hits and walking one in the first game of the twin bill that saw the Rox victorious 4-1. In the nightcap, St. Cloud starter Reese Gregory allowed just three hits in six innings, but gave up two unearned runs as the Border Cats took game two, 2-0.

McCarty struck out a pair in the first game, including the first out of the bottom of the 7th, which saw Border Cat Nick Oberg go down on strikes with the bases loaded for the first out of the inning. Rox Manager Augie Rodriguez then brought in Kevin Burgee, who promptly struck out Jordan Serena and Cory Kay to get his third save of the year and preserve the win for McCarty and the Rox.

St. Cloud (12-6) got two runs in the first inning of game one against Thunder Bay starter Charles Theilmann as Seth Heck walked to start the game, followed by Eric Loxtercamp reaching on a base hit to build the rally. A wild pitch by Theilmann put runners on second and third for Chris Paul, who got his 17th RBI of the year on a ground out to short. The Rox added another in the inning on a single by Will Craig, the first of two hits he would have in the game.

Thunder Bay (6-12) got one back in the bottom of the first on a Nick Studer RBI single that would score Cory Kay. The hit for the Border Cats was their third consecutive in the inning, and the run would turn out to be the only one they’d score in the game.

Clay Ardeeser then doubled the Rox lead to two with a solo home run in the third inning, his second of the season. Boo Vazquez, making his season debut, gave St. Cloud another insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the 5th, scoring Ardeeser on a fly ball to left field to bring the first game to its final score, 4-1.

In the second game, Thunder Bay scored on an RBI triple by Kyle Hann in the fourth during an inning that started after a fly ball to left field fell in off the glove of Garrett McMullen, charging the left fielder with an error. Neither run was earned for Rox starter Reese Gregory (2-1), who earned the tough luck loss, and also saw his ERA drop from 0.64 to 0.45.

St. Cloud put the tying runs aboard in both the fifth and sixth innings, but would strand them all after strong pitching by Thunder Bay starter Gunnar Kay (1-1) and reliever Lucas Scocchia. A box score of game one can be found at 

http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=210270 

Game two's box score can be found at

http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=210281

The Rox will return home tomorrow to begin a two-game series with the Kenosha Kingfish (8-8) and begin a stretch of four home games in the next five days before taking to the road for another five-game road trip. The first pitch will be 6:05 p.m. as Josh Taylor will take the ball for St. Cloud, who has won three straight games at Joe Faber Field. Saturday will be Baseball Bat Giveaway Night, presented by the St. Cloud Hospital Stroke Center, as the first 300 kids 14-and-under will receive a Rox 28” wood baseball bat. Single game tickets can be purchased 24 hours a day at www.stcloudrox.com, by calling (320) 240-9798 or by visiting the Rox ticket office located at the Municipal Athletic Complex.

For more coverage of the Rox visit sctimes.com