St. Cloud, MN — Jack Cushing (Georgetown) with all due respect has arguably been St. Cloud's best pitcher and player through the first half of the regular season. In his 6th and final start this summer he had his best. Cushing delivered 5 nearly flawless innings, with the only blemishes being one walk and one single. Still, the Texas native struck out 6 and finished his summer with a 1.80 ERA in 35 innings pitched. 

The Rox (21-11) remain tied for 1st in the North Division with 4 games left in the 1st half of the regular season. And with that playoff berth on the line over the next couple days, their batters also came ready to play again tonight, even after being delayed for an hour thanks to a sudden thunderstorm. They struck in the 1st for the second straight night after Cameron Eden (Cal) and Matt Tarantino (Pacific) reached base safely. With 1 out, Shane Selman (McNeese State) delivered his 18th RBI of the season with a single to give St. Cloud the early lead. The next batter, Keaton Kringlen (BYU), smacked one to Centerfield, and the sacrifice fly made it 2-0.

Behind the dominant outing from Cushing, the Rox never looked back and cruised to their 6th sweep this season. After the two run 1st, another run came across in the 2nd. Up 3-0 in the 3rd, Brendan Illies (North Carolina) stood at the plate and drilled a shot to Leftfield to add another run on the board.

Illies came up big later with an RBI single in the 7th inning. That play was one of 4 to drive in runs in that inning. Angelo Altavilla (Nebraska) capped the scoring tonight with his single to bring in Cameron Blaquiere (Western Carolina) who made his 1st start in 13 days.

It was another solid effort all around for STC, and their consistency proves it in its record. With now 4 games left in the 1st half, all of the Rox games are against the Huskies. Duluth comes to town tomorrow night at 6:05 PM before St. Cloud hits the road for three straight. Saturday night is Polka Night presented by 1150 AM KASM. 

Tonight's Box Score.

Northwoods League Standings.

Friday's St. Cloud Times Player of the Game is Brendan Illies. The 1B hit his 1st home run of the season in the 3rd inning and later drove in another run with an RBI single in the 7th inning.

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.