St. Cloud, MN – St. Cloud (16-6) poured on eight runs in two innings to take game two of Wednesday’s doubleheader, 9-3, over Willmar (11-13).

This was an important victory for the Rox, who have now evened up the season series with the rival Stingers. St. Cloud also moves their league-leading record to 16-6, having won eight straight games and 14 of the last 16.

In the fifth inning, Caleb Ricketts (San Diego) started the scoring with a two-RBI single and the Rox tallied a total of four runs in the frame to take the early 4-0 lead. Ricketts finished the game three-for-five with three RBI’s on the day.

The Rox broke the game open in the sixth as Chris Esposito (Nebraska-Omaha) crushed a three-RBI triple into the left-center gap and put the Rox in complete control of the game. Esposito tallied three hits in Wednesday’s two games.

Andrew Pinckney (Alabama) bounced back at the plate after tallying no hits in four at-bats in game one. Pinckney had three hits, including two doubles, that helped the Rox stretch out the lead late.

Riley Cornelio (TCU) got the ball in his first start on the mound and went five scoreless innings. It wasn’t always easy for Cornelio on the mound as he ran into a few jams early, but he was able to work out of them each time to keep the Stingers scoreless.

Benny Roebuck (Kent State) and Dakota Hawkins (Washington State) finished off the game with four innings out of the bullpen allowing just three runs. In relief, they held the Stingers in check and allowed the Rox to finish off the win.

For a full box score from Wednesday’s game, click here.

St. Cloud will put its eight-game winning streak and first place in the Great Plains West on the line with a two-game set in Bismarck against the second-place Larks. First pitch on Thursday will be at 7:05 pm.

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’ 27^th 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.