St. Cloud, MN – The St. Cloud Rox used the starting pitching of Nick McCarty and a few clutch hits to defeat the Mankato MoonDogs 4-2 Wednesday night at Joe Faber Field, their fifth victory in six games. McCarty threw seven innings and did not give up a run until his final inning of work as he picked up the victory (3-1) while scattering three hits and striking out six to move the Rox to 5-4 in the second half and 24-20 overall.

Both teams were scoreless through the first three innings, but the Rox broke through in the fourth off an infield single from Robert Youngdahl with two outs, scoring Chris Paul who led off the inning with a walk. The Rox lead continued the following inning, when Bradley Strong stepped in with Charles Galiano on first and proceeded to launch a two-run home run to right field, his third of the year, which gave the Rox a three-run lead through five.

McCarty continued his dominance throughout the middle portion of the game, until Mankato tallied their first run of the evening when Brett Murray led off the seventh inning with a triple and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Eric Schenk-Joblinske. McCarty finished the inning and was relieved by Tyler Deel in the eighth, who recorded one out before handing the duty over to Kevin Burgee, who forced the final two outs of the inning as the MoonDogs tacked on another run to make it 3-2.

The Rox gained one insurance run in the bottom of the eighth off a wild pitch with two outs that scored Kade Scivicque, which was enough for Kevin Burgee to close the door in the ninth, as he retired all three batters he faced and struck out two to pick up his fifth save of the season and give the Rox the 4-2 victory. Boo Vazquez led the Rox offensively with two hits in the game as the two teams combined for just nine hits total.

Tonight’s box score can be found at http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=210511.

The Rox now hit the road for five consecutive games, beginning tomorrow as they travel to Willmar for a two-game series with the Stingers beginning at 7:05 p.m. They return home for the beginning of a six-game home stand next Tuesday, starting with a two-game series with the Waterloo Bucks on July 15^th, which will be Rox Replica Jersey Giveaway, presented by Coborn’s and the St. Cloud Times for the first 500 kids 14-and-under.

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 www.sctimes.com.