St. Cloud, MN – On Wednesday night, St. Cloud (26-8) pulled away late for a 7-2 win over Bismarck (18-19) to earn its fifth consecutive victory.

Over the last month of play, the Rox have now won 24 of 28 games to push themselves to the best record in the Northwoods League. This is now St. Cloud’s third winning streak of five or more games this season.

The sixth inning pushed the Rox ahead after the game was tied at two runs apiece early on. Justin Kirby (Kent State) gave St. Cloud the lead with an RBI single early in the frame. Connor O’Brien (Seattle University) also brought in a run with a base hit a few batters later.

The game was broken open as Nate Swarts (Washington State) reached on an error that brought two runs around the score, pushing the Rox lead to four runs.

Otto Kemp (Point Loma Nazarene) also had a big game, hitting his second home run of the season in the third inning. His opposite-field shot made it a 2-0 game early. Kemp put together a two-for-three day to continue to push his team-leading batting average higher.

Trevor Koenig (St. Cloud State) got the ball to start the game and had another solid outing on the bump. The big lefty went six innings and allowed only two earned runs and struck out five opposing batters.

Out of the bullpen, Dakota Hawkins (Washington State) closed it out with three shutout innings in relief. Hawkins struck out five Larks and only allowed two hits during the final third of the game to finish off the win.

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

St. Cloud will hit the road on Thursday to start a four-game road trip over the weekend. The Rox start off with a two-game set against the La Crosse Loggers, first pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 6:35 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.