St. Cloud, MN – St. Cloud (47-16) shut out Rochester (29-33) and tied their season-high run total in Monday night’s 15-0 victory.

The Rox now sit just one game away from clinching the best record in the Northwoods League this season and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. St. Cloud holds a five-game lead over Mankato with five games remaining on the schedule and could lock it up with a win on Tuesday. For the full Northwoods League standings, click here.

This was the Rox’ eleventh shutout of the season, keyed by starter Nate Peterson (Illinois-Chicago). Peterson came up one strikeout shy of the Rox’ single-game record with 12 while throwing six shutout innings and only allowing two hits.

The bats erupted early with four runs in the second inning and eight runs in the third, led by leadoff hitter Andrew Pinckney (Alabama). Pinckney had six RBI’s in just those two innings, clearing the bases with an RBI triple in the second and hitting a three-run home run in the third. Pinckney finished the day just a double shy of the cycle and one RBI short of the Rox’ single-game record.

Otto Kemp (Point Loma Nazarene) followed up just two batters later with a two-run home run of his own. Kemp’s sixth home run extended his team lead and he also became the first Rox player with 40 RBI’s this season.

Later on, Jack Steil (Nebraska) hit another ball over the left-field fence that allowed him to score for the fourth time, tying a Rox single-game record. Steil finished the day with a double, a home run and three RBI’s as well.

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

The Rox finish up the two-game series with the Honkers on Tuesday evening from St. Cloud. First pitch from Joe Faber Field is scheduled for 7:05 pm as St. Cloud can finish a sweep of the season series over Rochester.

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.