St. Cloud, Minn. – The St. Cloud Rox defeated the Waterloo Bucks 6-2 to start off the second half of the season. Zach Pop (University of Kentucky) shut down the Waterloo offense in front of a crowd of 1,598 at the Rock Pile in St. Cloud.

Pop started on the mound and ended up going 7.1 innings, striking out eight batters, scattering three hits and only allowing two earned runs. Pop sent down 10 straight batters between the third and fifth inning before Brett DeGagne (University of North Dakota) came in to relieve him.

DeGagne ended up going 1.2 innings, striking out one batter and not allowing a run.

The Rox offense started in the third inning when Reese Gregory (St. Cloud State) scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Connor Crane (McNeese State).

The Rox would then fill the bases for Lee Miller (Davidson College) who would walk in Brett Pope (Western Carolina University). The scoring in the third inning was topped off with a two-out pop up by John Sansone (Florida State University) that was dropped by the Waterloo outfielder that allowed Crane, Austin Athmann (University of Minnesota), and Pope to score

The Rox would add one more run in the seventh inning when pinch runner, Jake Farr (Tennessee Tech), would score on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Pope.

Joe Tietjen (UNC Asheville) and Pope both had two hits each as Miller continued to get on base with one hit and two walks tonight.

The Rox host the Bucks again tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. at the Rock Pile but gates will open up at 6:05 p.m. for fans. Tomorrow night will be Red, White and BOOM night presented by SuperAmerica! Leadoff your Fourth of July weekend with a bang! Post game fireworks!

Tonight’s St. Cloud Times Player of the Game is starting pitcher Zach Pop who pitched a strong 7.1 innings. 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=260363

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.