St. Cloud, Minn. – After dropping a two game series to the Eau Claire Express and losing their hold on the division lead, the St. Cloud Rox were looking to turn their luck around in their first of four games against the Willmar Stingers.

They did just that on Monday night, in a decisive 7-0 victory for the Rox (18-8) over the Stingers (13-14).

Willmar threatened early, putting runners in scoring position in both the first and third innings. However starting pitcher Aaron Rozek (Minnesota State, Mankato) would not allow the runners to move any further, picking up clutch strikeouts to get out of the jams.

Rozek would strike out a season high nine batters in six innings while not allowing a run on five hits and a walk.

The Rox would score the first run of the game in the third, as Luke Ringhofer (South Dakota State) singled home Drew Freedman (Wake Forest). That would be the only run of the first five innings for either team.

The offense would ignite in the sixth inning, with a single and two walks loading the bases. Webb Bobo (Southeastern Louisiana) then drew a walk bringing in the Rox second run. A wild pitch in the next at bat would bring home Denis Karas (Cal Berkeley) then Brendan Illies (North Carolina) lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home the third run of the inning.

A double in the seventh from Michael Strem (Boston College) would bring home Ringhofer, and Strem scored later on a Willmar error extending the Rox lead to 6-0. An insurance run on another Strem double in the ninth would pad the Rox lead to 7-0.

Robbie Palkert (Nebraska) came on in relief for Rozek in the seventh inning and pitched three hitless innings in relief. Palkert has not allowed a run since his debut outing for the Rox, and picked up his third save of the season on Monday.

The win was the Rox fifth shutout of the season, and coupled with a loss by the Express moved St. Cloud back into first place in the division.

The Rox will head to Willmar for three games in two days against the Stingers. They return to Joe Faber Field on Thursday to take on the La Crosse Loggers. Back by popular demand, Deuces Wild! Dueling Pianos will be entertaining fans throughout Thursday’s game.

Tonight’s game one St. Cloud Times Player of the Game was Aaron Rozek following his great work 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

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