Bismarck, ND – Jack Barrie (Northwestern Ohio) continued to stay hot at the plate, belting his third homerun in three days, but dropped a back-and-forth game to the Bismarck Larks in game one of the series on Tuesday. The final score was 5-3. Kenny Saenz (BYU) started the game for the Rox and pitched four innings while striking out three batters.

St. Cloud loaded the bases in the first inning and scored a run from Jack Barrie’s ground ball that stayed in the infield. Bismarck responded with a two out, bases clearing double in the home half of the first inning as they claimed a 3-1 lead.

The score would stay the same until the top of the fifth inning, when Barrie launched a two-run shot over the leftfield wall. The homerun tied the game at three.

The back-and-forth game continued as the Larks tacked on a run in the sixth and seventh inning. Those two runs would prove to be the difference as Bismarck clinched the victory.

Ricardo Sanchez (Arkansas at Pine-Bluff) and Ryland Kerr (Eastern Kentucky) both registered two-hits in the game for the Rox as the team finished with a total of seven in the game.

Following Saenz, Ross Bastyr (Concordia St. Paul), Abdallah Salman (Alcorn State), and Sean Ross (San Diego State) all made appearances out of the bullpen for the Rox.

St. Cloud will take on Bismarck in the series finale Wednesday evening at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.

The Rox are in their seventh season of Northwoods League Baseball in 2018. Single game and group tickets for the entire season are on sale now. For more information on purchasing tickets, visit the Rox Ticket Office on the west end of the Municipal Athletic Complex, call 320-240-9798 or visit www.stcloudrox.com.

The St. Cloud Rox are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR).  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.