St. Cloud, Minn. – The first five Rox wins of the year had one thing in common, great outings from the starting pitchers. In all of the wins the starter went at least six innings while allowing less than three runs.

That feat was replicated again on Friday, as Matt Shannon (Angelo State) pitched a gem leading the St. Cloud Rox (6-5) to an 8-4 victory over the Rochester Honkers (4-7).

Making his first start of the year for the Rox, Shannon went 7.0 innings allowing just one hit and no runs. He struck out nine batters and earned the win for the Rox.

The St. Cloud offense got on the board early, after a Rochester error allowed Luke Ringhofer (South Dakota State) to score from second. Errors would be a common theme for the Honkers, as only one Rox run was charged as earned because of four errors.

Ringhofer would impact the scoreboard again in the third, notching a single that scored TJ Friedl (Nevada) for the second run of the game.

The Rox put up a crooked number in the fourth inning breaking the game open. The inning was highlighted by a Ben Petersen (North Dakota State) three-run home run over the left field fence. It was Petersen’s second home run of the year and pushed his RBI total to eight.

Friedl picked up a two-run double in the fifth, giving the Rox their largest lead of the night at 8-0.

The Honkers cut into the lead in the eighth, getting the bases loaded early on reliever Aaron Rozek (Minnesota State, Mankato) and pushing four runs across in the inning. Ringhofer killed the threat by catching a line drive at first and doubling off a Rochester runner for the final two outs of the inning.

The ninth would play out similar to the ninth, as the Honkers put runners on early against Colin Strall (LSU), but shortstop Drew Freedman picked up a grounder and started another double play that ended the game and sealed the Rox win.

The Rox have now won five of their last six games, and are undefeated at home this season, scoring at least six runs in every game at Joe Faber field in 2016.

Tonight’s game one St. Cloud Times Player of the Game was Matt Shannon for his performance on the mound. For more coverage of the Rox during the 2016 season visit www.sctimes.com.

For more stats and information about the game, here is the boxscore:

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 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized 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 150 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 (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.stcloudrox.com