St. Cloud, Minn. – The St. Cloud Rox (18-7, 42-18) continued their dominance at home and held on to the best record in the Northwoods League with a 4-1 victory over the Waterloo Bucks (9-18, 31-31) on Wednesday to conclude and eight game homestand.

The Rox can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a victory in either of tomorrow’s games in Thunder Bay. They have locked up a top-four finish in the overall standings, and a win tomorrow would guarantee a top-three finish, meaning there is no scenario where the Rox would miss the playoffs with the Northwoods League playoff rules. The Rox also hold 1.5 game lead in the second half North Division standings, which would give them home-field advantage in the playoffs.

Wednesday’s game was a tight one, but a pair of runs in two separate innings gave the Rox the win.

After Waterloo took the lead in the top of the second, St. Cloud answered in the third. Denis Karas (Cal, Berkeley) led off the inning with a double and was driven home two batters later on a double from Drew Freedman (Nova Southeastern). Ricky Ramirez (McNeese State) then hit a single to bring home Freedman for the second run of the inning.

The other Rox runs came in the sixth inning. Karas drew a two-out walk, setting the plate for Mark Skonieczny (Illinois). Skonieczny delivered by hitting his second home run of the year out to left field, giving St. Cloud the 4-1 lead that they would hold when the game ended.

Dan Metzdorf (Boston College) had another great night on the mound for the Rox, lasting seven innings with just one run allowed and four strikeouts. He has earned a win in three straight games, and has lasted at least six innings with one run or less allowed in all of those games.

Just as he has all year, Collin Strall (LSU) impressed coming out of the bullpen. He pitched the final two innings of the game, not allowing a run on just two hits to earn his team-leading tenth save of the year. Strall has not allowed a run in 17 of his 20 appearances this season and has 12 games with multiple strikeouts.

The Rox end their eight game, seven day homestand with a record of 7-1. They will hit the road for three games in Thunder Bay over the next two days, before returning on Saturday, August 6 to take on the Mankato MoonDogs in a battle of second half leaders. It will be the Battle of the Badges at the Rock Pile presented by KEEPRS and Country Financial. A night to honor Brian Klinefelter. Pre-game softball battle between police officers and firefighters starting at 4:05 p.m.

Tonight’s St. Cloud Times Player of the Game was Mark Skonieczny for his game-winning home run. 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 or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.