St. Cloud, MN – The St. Cloud Rox entered the fifth inning in the first game of a doubleheader with the Eau Claire Express on Wednesday afternoon looking to record some insurance runs while leading 2-1.

To say the Rox did just that in the bottom of the fifth inning would be an understatement.

St. Cloud finished with a huge fifth inning, tallying 11 total runs in the bottom half of the frame, en route to beating Eau Claire 13-1 in Game 1 at the Rock Pile. The Rox recorded 11 runs and nine total hits in the fifth inning alone.

Before the big outburst, St. Cloud kicked things off with one run in the second and fourth innings to jump out to a one-run lead. Eau Claire tallied its lone run of the game in the third inning.

Every Rox player in the starting lineup for Game 1 on Wednesday recorded a base hit, finishing with a total of 16 hits. Every one of those players also scored a run. Chad Bible (San Diego State) led the way, going 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Noah Hill (BYU) went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI, Jack Barrie (Northwestern Ohio) and Zach Sehgal (Stanford) each tallied a hit and two RBI and Landon Stephens (Miami-Ohio) finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI.

John Matthews (Kent State) started the game on the mound for the Rox, pitching 6.2 innings to get the win. He gave up five hits, one run, two walks and struck out five. Hance Smith (California-Berkeley) pitched 0.2 innings, giving up just one hit and no runs, while Sergio Esparza (Arkansas at Pine Bluff) pitched the final 1.2 innings, giving up no hits, no runs and striking out two.

St. Cloud is back in action at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday night in Game 2 of the doubleheader. The game will be Rox Baseball Cap Giveaway presented by Franklin Outdoor Advertising, where the first 250 fans to the stadium will receive a Rox baseball cap.

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.