Eau Claire, WI – At one point on Tuesday, St. Cloud (21-7) led by eight runs, but had to fight off Eau Claire (11-19) late to pull out the 9-8 victory.

The Rox erupted in the third inning as the first eight batters all came around to score. Justin Van De Brake (Washington State) brought in his first runs of the season with a two-RBI single to left-center field.

The big swing came from another Washington State Cougar, Nate Swarts, who hit a three-run home run over the left-field fence to extend the Rox’ lead to 8-0 early in the game.

However, the next seven runs all came from the Express to make it a one-run game heading into the eighth inning. The Rox were able to extend the lead after Otto Kemp (Point Loma Nazarene) brought in Andrew Pinckney (Alabama) from third. Pinckney had just hit his league-leading third triple with one out in the inning.

The Rox bullpen was under pressure all night long, but Connor Barison (Washington State) saved the day with one and two-thirds innings of scoreless baseball out of the pen. After working out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, Barison shut it down in the ninth with three straight punchouts.

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

The Rox bounced back after having their record-breaking 12-game winning streak snapped on Monday. St. Cloud has now won 19 of its last 22 games and leads the Great Plains West with four games left in the first half.

Now, St. Cloud returns home for a massive series with the Mankato MoonDogs, who sit just one game behind the Rox in the Great Plains West. First pitch from Joe Faber Field on Wednesday 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.