Eau Claire, WI – Bobby Seymour (Wake Forest) hit his first homerun of the year but St. Cloud dropped a close game to the Eau Claire Express, 4-3. The Rox used five pitchers in the game, as they combined for nine strikeouts in the loss.

The first three innings of the game remained scoreless as Jack Cushing (Georgetown) looked great in the start, giving up three hits. In the top of the fourth inning, the game was suspended due to thunder in the area. There was a thirty-minute delay and play was resumed by 8:30. Cushing did not return after the stoppage in play.

The scoreless tie was broken in the top of the fifth inning when Seymour drilled a solo shot to leftfield and put the Rox up 1-0. It was his first homerun as a member of the St. Cloud Rox. However, the Express responded with three runs in the next half-inning. Bobby Gauvreau (Minnesota State-Mankato) came in out of the bullpen and struck out the two batters he faced to get St. Cloud out of the jam.

Trailing in the seventh inning, Landon Stephens (Miami-Ohio) scored on a wild pitch from third base and cut the deficit in half, 4-2. Later in the half-inning, the Rox loaded the bases with one out. Hance Smith (California-Berkeley) delivered on a single to leftfield that scored Jack Barrie (Northwestern Ohio) from third base. The Rox couldn’t get the tying run in after the Smith RBI.

Eau Claire ended up not allowing a run in the eighth and ninth inning, as the Express edged the Rox 4-3. The two teams split the opening series of the year and will play a doubleheader on June 27 at the Rock Pile. St. Cloud drops to 9-9 on the season and travels to Waterloo for a two-game weekend series with the Bucks. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 on Saturday evening.

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.

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