Duluth, MN – The St. Cloud Rox picked up right where they left off from last night as they totaled 12 hits Saturday night and defeated the Duluth Huskies 7-4 at Wade Stadium. The high-powered offense, combined with a powerful performance from starting pitcher Austin Caspersen gave the Rox their fifth straight victory and eighth in the past nine games as they are now just one-half game out of first place in the North Division’s second half with an 8-4 record and are 27-20 overall.

Caspersen picked up the victory (4-2) Saturday night in his sixth start of the year, going eight innings while scattering eight hits and allowing one run with four strikeouts. The Rox offense tallied four runs in the third inning to get on the board first as they recorded four consecutive singles in the inning and five hits total to jump out to a lead.

They came back with two more in the fourth to answer Duluth’s run in the third, coming off an RBI double from Robert Youngdahl to score Harrison Wenson and an RBI single from Kranson to make it 6-1 after four innings. The final run of the game came for the Rox in the eighth inning off another RBI double from Youngdahl, scoring Seth Heck to give St. Cloud a six-run lead going in to the ninth. Youngdahl finished the night 4-for-4, including three doubles as he also tallied two RBIs and two runs scored.

The Huskies got three runs back in the ninth inning off Rox reliever Chad Hockin, before Dalton Sawyer came in and struck out the final batter of the game out to give him the save, his fourth of the year. Past Youngdahl, the Rox were led offensively by Kranson and Clay Ardeeser, who each tallied two hits and two RBIs in the win.

Tonight’s box score can be found at http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=210534.

The Rox will now finish the series with the Huskies tomorrow night beginning at 5:05 p.m. at Wade Stadium. After that they will complete their current road trip with one game in Willmar on Monday beginning at 7:05 p.m. They return home for the beginning of a six-game home stand on 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.