St. Cloud, Minn. – The St. Cloud Rox defeated the Eau Claire Express 11-4 Thursday night in front of crowd of 1,653 at the Rock Pile.

The Rox offense ignited early as they scored three runs in the first inning. Jake Farr (Tennessee Tech) came into score when Connor Crane (McNeese State) laid down a sacrifice bunt but the Express third baseman overthrew the first basemen. Liam Bedford (Doane College) followed that with a single that scored Joe Tietjen (UNC Ashville) and Crane.

Brett Pope (Western Carolina University) continued the scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning when he singled in Michael Strem (Boston College) and Lee Miller (Davidson College).

The Rox would continue the offensive onslaught by scoring two runs in each of the next three innings.

Seven Rox players recorded at least one hit while five players had one or more RBIs. Austin Athmann (University of Minnesota) drove in three runs, including a two-run homerun over the right field fence in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Strem extended his on-base streak to 23 games after drawing a walk in the first inning.

Zach Pop (University of Kentucky) started on the mound for the Rox and went six innings, striking out five batters and scattered seven hits. Lucas Gilbreath (University of Minnesota) came into the game in the seventh inning then finished the game out by striking out six batters, only allowing one hit and the save.

The next Rox game will be tomorrow night as they host Eau Claire Express again at 7:05 p.m. Gates at Joe Faber Field will open at 6:05 p.m. for fans. Tomorrow will be Friday Night Fireworks presented by Franklin Graphics.

Tonight’s St. Cloud Times Player of the Game is shortstop Brett Pope who went 2-3 with a walk and two RBIs. For more coverage of the Rox during the 2015 season visit www.sctimes.com.

For more stats and information about tonight’s first game, here is the boxscore:

http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=260309

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.

The St. Cloud Rox are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22^nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest summer collegiate baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website.  For more information, visit www.stcloudrox.com.