St. Cloud, MN – The St. Cloud Rox could not contain the clutch offense of Kenosha as they fell to the Kingfish twice in Sunday’s doubleheader by scores of 4-1 and 10-7. Game one was a continuation of Saturday’s rainout at Joe Faber Field, picking up in the fourth inning where the Kingfish attacked with three runs in the carry-over to break a 1-1 tie. In game two, the teams combined for 22 hits and five home runs as Kenosha finished the weekend with two victories.

Josh Taylor started game one for the Rox (12-8), going the first four innings before the postponement and scattering four hits while striking out five to earn the no-decision. Taylor was relieved by Trevor Charpie (L, 1-1) in the fifth inning, who allowed one run in the fifth and two in the sixth to the Kingfish to give Kenosha a 4-1 lead that proved to be the decider. From there Dalton Sawyer took over on the mound, allowing just one base runner in the final three innings and striking out one to keep the game at a close pace.

The Rox had a chance to tie the game with two men on and nobody out in the ninth inning, but Kenosha reliever Brett Shimanovsky came in to close the door by retiring the next three batters to earn the save and give the Kingfish the victory. Boo Vazquez led the Rox offensively in game one, recording two hits in the loss as Clay Ardeeser plated an RBI off a single in the first.

In game two, the Rox outhit the Kingfish 12-10, but were hamstringed by Kenosha left fielder Pat Porter, who finished game two 4-for-4 with seven RBIs and two, three-run home runs. Kenny Anderson made the start on the mound for the Rox, going 3.1 innings and striking out five while allowing six hits and four earned runs in the process. Ardeeser got the scoring going once again in game two for St. Cloud, belting a two-run home run to right center to score Chris Paul and give the Rox an early 2-0 lead.

Eric Loxtercamp then brought a run across in the bottom of the second off an RBI single and Chris Paul ripped a double in the third inning to score Bradley Strong, making it a 4-2 game through three as both squads tallied one run in the second and third innings.

The Kingfish answered back in the top of the fourth, getting two runs off Anderson and three off reliever Ben Lumsden (L, 1-1) coming from Porter’s first home run of the game to put the Kingfish ahead. The Rox responded with a run in the sixth, but Porter ripped another three-run homerun in the seventh to bring Kenosha’s run total to 10. St. Cloud got two more runs in the seventh inning off another home run from Ardeeser, giving him two in the game and four on the season to lead St. Cloud in the category. Chad Hockin and Daniel Martinez combined to throw the final three innings for the Rox, as Hockin allowed three runs while Martinez pitched a spotless seventh inning to finish the game for St. Cloud as the Kingfish counted their sixth straight victory.

Ardeeser and Paul led the charge for the Rox in game two, both finishing 3-for-5 with two runs scored as Paul doubled and recorded two RBIs while Ardeeser’s two home runs gave him three RBIs on the game. Game one’s box score can be found at 

http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=221012 

and game two at 

http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=210296

The Rox will hit the road tomorrow for one game with Alexandria before heading back to St. Cloud Tuesday night for a contest with the Blue Anchors beginning at 7:05 p.m. at Joe Faber Field. Tuesday will be Bark in the Park Night, presented by the Granite City Pet Hospital to benefit the Tri-County Humane Society. The first 250 dogs in to the game Tuesday will also receive a Rox dog dish.

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