St. Cloud, MN – A five-run fourth inning keyed a comeback, 8-3, victory for St. Cloud (23-8) over Duluth (11-20) and dropped the Rox’ magic number to clinch to one.

The Rox will play the Huskies again on Saturday afternoon at Wade Stadium with a chance to lock up the first-half championship in the Great Plains West. St. Cloud now just needs a win or Mankato to lose any of its final three games to Bismarck.

The game was tied heading into the fourth inning at three runs apiece after the Rox had scratched a few runs across on walks and a Bobby Goodloe (TCU) RBI single. Goodloe would start off the five-run rally in the fourth as well with a two-RBI double to left field.

Then, Jack Winkler (San Francisco) would follow up just two batters later with a double of his own down the left-field line. He would score off the bat of his San Francisco teammate, Nick Yovetich, who singled up the middle to bring Winkler home from second.

After giving up three runs in the first two innings, the Rox’ bullpen took over and shut down the Huskies’ lineup. Nathan Culley (Minnesota State-Mankato) went a season-high five innings and allowed no runs on just two hits while striking out six batters.

Zach Gagnon (Tarleton State) finished the game off with two more scoreless frames in the eighth and the ninth. He worked out of a jam in the ninth to finish off the game.

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

The Rox head to Wade Stadium for a 3:05 first pitch against Duluth and can clinch the first half of the season in the Great Plains West. Saturday’s game is the last that St. Cloud will play in the first half.

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.