St. Cloud — The North Division leading Rox returned to their normal form Sunday after a tough outing Saturday, which was their first loss in eight days. St. Cloud scored just two runs in yesterday's loss on five hits. That all changed in just the bottom of the 1st inning in their next game. The first five Rox batters reached base safely and broke open the scoring after Shane Selman (McNeese State) got hit by a pitch to bring in Drew Avans (Southeast Louisiana) the leadoff man.

That was only the beginning. 

Cameron Eden (California) hit a sacrifice fly to Centerfield for the first out, to make it 2-0. Later, Luke Ringhofer (South Dakota State) singled to drive in Cameron Blaquiere (Western Carolina). Ringhofer extended his streak of reaching base safely today to a perfect 10 for 10 on the season. 

Then, he came up. Michael Busch (North Carolina) had two runners on, and crushed the first pitch to Leftfield for a 3-run home run.The Rox tripled their offensive output from last night before the Stingers could get three outs. 

The excess of run support didn't even matter. Jack Cushing (Georgetown) powered his way to another great outing. He completed 7 innings, allowing 8 hits and more importantly still no runs. The Texas native has now pitched 18 consecutive scoreless innings in three starts for the Rox. For reference, going into Sunday only one other other Northwoods League pitcher had not allowed a run and started two games. 

That pitcher is Cushing's teammate this summer Kenny Saenz (BYU). 

Cushing only got into pressure with multiple runners on base in a couple innings, but worked through it to keep the scoreless streak alive. 

The Rox starter got even more run support from the pair of Tar Heels following a sacrifice fly from Busch and RBI single from Brendan Illies (North Carolina) in the 3rd. Then, just for good measure, Busch hit a second home run to Rightfield. He became the first Rox player since Webb Bobo in 2015 to hit multiple home runs in a game. The Minnesota native also became the first player for St. Cloud this year to have two home runs on the season. He just played his third game of the season today.

The Rox remain in 1st place in the North Division by one game after a win from the Bucks earlier today.

STC hits the road for five games away from Faber Field. It opens the road swing tomorrow at Willmar before heading to Mankato for a double-header Tuesday. First pitch tomorrow night is at 7:05 PM. The Rox return home Saturday to play the Loggers in another two game series. First pitch Saturday is at 6:05 PM. For a list of upcoming promotions, or to buy tickets you can go online to our website stcloudrox.com, or call our box office during normal business hours at 320-240-9798.

Today's Box Score.

Northwoods League Standings.

Tonight's St. Cloud Times Player of the Night is Michael Busch. In his third game this summer, he hit two home runs and had five RBI's in the big win over the Stingers.

The St. Cloud Rox are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two- time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). 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 or on Google Play and set the Rox as your favorite team.