St. Cloud, MN – St. Cloud (20-6) struck out fifteen batters on Monday night to help claim a 10-2 victory over La Crosse (15-14).

The Rox maintain their four-and-a-half game advantage over Willmar in the Great Plains West. St. Cloud could clinch a first-half title later this week with just one week remaining until the midway point.

Nathan Culley (Minnesota State-Mankato) stole the show on Monday evening with another stellar outing on the mound. Culley went six innings, allowing just one run on three hits and striking out nine hitters, including seven of the first ten he faced.

The Rox bats took advantage of some Loggers mistakes in the first inning, using four walks and a hit-by-pitch to take a 4-0 lead. Charlie Condon (Georgia) and Ethan Mann (New Mexico State) each drove in a run in the first.

Brice Matthews (Nebraska) added some insurance to the scoreboard in the third with his first home run of the summer. Matthews launched a two-run blast out to left-center field to extend the Rox’ lead to six.

Out of the bullpen, Nick Hyde (Western Carolina) worked two innings and gave up just one earned run. Hyde struck out four more batters in the second and the eighth to get the Rox through the late innings.

Carson Keithley (Texas State) shut it down with a perfect ninth inning on the mound. Keithley struck out two more Loggers to bring St. Cloud’s total to 15 on the evening and close out the game.

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

The Rox will look for a sweep on Tuesday from the Rock Pile as they finish off this two-game series with the Loggers. First pitch from Joe Faber Field is scheduled for 7:05 pm.

For the full 2022 Rox schedule, click here. The 2022 season is presented by Fleet Farm. For more information regarding this release, season tickets and partial season ticket packages for the 2022 season including Kwik Trip 7-Game Packs, please contact the Rox office at 320-240-9798 or visit www.stcloudrox.com.

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’ 28^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 theApple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rox as your favorite team.