Alexandria, MN – The St. Cloud Rox could not stop Alexandria Wednesday night as the Blue Anchors went for five runs in the final three innings to defeat the Rox 6-5 at Knute Nelson Memorial Park. The loss comes after the Rox pulled a late-inning comeback on the Blue Anchors last night, moving their record to 16-13 as tonight’s contest concluded their season series with the Blue Anchors.

The Rox jumped out to an early lead Tuesday night, scoring twice in the first from an RBI double from Clay Ardeeser, his league-leading ninth of the year, and a single from Kade Scivicque. They also tallied a run in the third and fifth innings as Boo Vazquez and Chris Paul each smacked solo home runs, giving Vazquez his first home run of the year and Paul his fifth.

Tim Faix made the start for the Rox on the mound, going six innings and keeping the Blue Anchors scoreless until the sixth, when Craig Nennig led off the inning with a solo home run. Faix attempted to go in the seventh inning as well, but allowed the first two runners to reach base before Trevor Jaunich came in for relief. Jaunich retired the first two batters before allowing a two-run double to Cam Duzenack, bringing the Rox lead to a 4-3 clip going in to the eighth.

Jaunich was then replaced on the mound by Dalton Sawyer to start the eighth, who gave up two consecutive hits and the tying run before being relieved by Kevin Burgee in a jam. Burgee retired the next two batters, but then allowed back-to-back doubles that scored the go-ahead run and another to give the Blue Anchors their first lead of the night at 6-4 going in to the ninth.

The Rox managed to tally another in the final inning as Morgan Phillips was hit by a pitch and later scored off an error in Vazquez’s at-bat, but Kevin Walsh closed the door for Alexandria and earned the save in the 6-5 victory. For the Rox, Chris Paul led the offense with a 2-for-3 night including two runs scored and an RBI, and Bradley Strong also finished the night with two hits.

Tonight’s box score can be found at http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=210381.

The Rox now return to St. Cloud for the next five games, beginning tomorrow night with a two-game series with the Rochester Honkers, followed by another two-game series with the Eau Claire Express beginning Saturday and concluding Monday, June 30^th with an afternoon contest with the Mankato MoonDogs. At tomorrow night’s game, ‘Deuces Wild! Dueling Pianos’ will be performing all game long, presented by PreferredOne, and a diamond dig will occur after the game, where one lucky fan will win a $3,000 diamond ring, presented by Riddle’s Jewelry.

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.