June 25, 2021
Bismarck, ND – Six runs in the fifth inning proved enough for St. Cloud (18-6) to knock off Bismarck (16-10) and win their tenth straight game, 6-4.
The streak matches the St. Cloud run in June of 2016 for the longest winning streak in Rox history. St. Cloud has now swept its last five opponents, dating back to last Thursday.
The first five batters in the fifth inning all reached base and all came around to score. Payton Pennington (Kent State) started the scoring with an RBI single into left field. Andrew Pinckney (Alabama) and Bobby Goodloe (TCU) each drove in two in the inning with base hits of their own.
Goodloe is now batting .500 on the season with eight hits in his first four games in a Rox uniform. During the series against Bismarck, Goodloe posted five hits over the two games.
Connor O’Brien (Seattle University) followed up his big day from Thursday with another two-hit game. His base hit started the rally in the fifth as he came around to score the first run of the day for St. Cloud.
In his fourth start of the season, Bryce Robison (BYU) allowed just two runs on six hits and struck out five Larks hitters. Robison was coming off of a performance last week when he tied the franchise record for strikeouts in a game with 13.
Josh Gainer (Long Island-Brooklyn) followed Robison with two shutout innings out of the bullpen, striking out three. Then, Noah Myhre (Minot State) and Connor Barison (Washington State) each pitched an inning to close out the Rox’ tenth straight win.
For a full box score from Friday’s game, click here.
St. Cloud still holds the best record in the Northwoods League and coming down the stretch, is two games up in the Great Plains West over the Mankato MoonDogs. Bismarck now sits three games back in third place in the division.
The Rox will return to Minnesota for a weekend series with Willmar on Saturday and Sunday. The home-and-home series will begin in Willmar with first pitch at 7:05 pm as St. Cloud will look to win a record-breaking 11th consecutive game
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.
