Willmar, MN – The St. Cloud Rox tallied three runs apiece in the 9^th and 10^th innings of Thursday night’s contest as they defeated the Willmar Stingers 8-5 at Taunton Stadium to begin a two-game series. The victory gives the Rox six wins in their last seven games, including three straight as they are now in second place of the North Division’s second half.

The Rox trailed the Stingers 5-2 heading in to the top of the ninth, when Clay Ardeeser launched his fifth home run of the season, scoring Eric Loxtercamp and Chris Paul with two outs in the inning and tying the game at five. After Dalton Sawyer shut down the Stingers in the bottom of the ninth, Harrison Wenson scored on a passed ball to give the Rox their first lead of the game in the 10^th and Kade Scivicque’s two-RBI single to score Loxtercamp and Strong brought the score to 8-5.

Sawyer then proceeded to retire all three batters in the bottom of the 10^th, including two strikeouts as he picked up the victory (1-2) for his two-inning relief effort.

Ardeeser led the St. Cloud hitting Thursday night, finishing 3-for-6 with four RBIs as his single to right field in the fifth inning brought in Boo Vazquez. Scivicque launched a sacrifice fly earlier in the inning to score Loxtercamp and give the Rox their first run of the game and Loxtercamp ended the game with two hits and three runs scored while the Rox outhit the Stingers 11-9.

Rox starter Josh Taylor went five innings and picked up the no-decision after giving up three runs on five hits while striking out six. Reliever Ben Lumsden took over for Taylor in the sixth, and also fanned six Stingers while giving up two runs in three innings of work.

Tonight’s box score can be found at http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=210521.

The Rox and Stingers will finish the series in Willmar tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. before traveling to Duluth for a two-game series over the weekend and completing the road trip with another game in Willmar on Monday. 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.