June 6, 2021
St. Cloud, MN – On Sunday afternoon, St. Cloud (2-3) fell short against Willmar (5-2), 4-1, although the Rox pitching continued to shine.
Trevor Koenig (St. Cloud State) made his first start of the year, returning for his third season with the Rox. The big lefty went five innings and struck out seven. Despite getting the loss, most of the damage against Koenig came from the Stingers’ three extra base hits. Outside of those three pitches, Koenig looked steady in his return to Joe Faber Field.
The bullpen followed Koenig and shut down the Stingers offense completely. Nathan Culley (Minnesota State-Mankato) allowed just one hit and struck out two in the sixth and seventh inning. Culley now has four shutout innings of work in his first two appearances this summer.
Noah Myhre (Minot State) finished it off for the Rox with the final two frames. He allowed just one hit and held the Stingers to give the offense a chance at the end to come back.
At the plate, the Rox only were able to add five hits and the one run. However, plenty of players continue to develop for St. Cloud. Chris Esposito (Nebraska-Omaha) is now hitting .267 with an on-base percentage of .476 after going 2-3 with a walk on Sunday.
Justin Kirby (Kent State) also was able to continue his hot start to the season with a lead-off double to start the sixth. Two batters later, he came around to score on a Nate Swarts (Washington State) ground ball and cut into Willmar’s lead.
For a full box score from Sunday’s game, click here.
The Rox will face the Stingers again on Monday night in Willmar as they try to go for a series split. First pitch is at 7:05 pm. St. Cloud returns home on Wednesday to face Rochester in the first of a seven-game homestand.
The St. Cloud Rox are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 250 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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.
