Eau Claire, WI – St. Cloud (32-10) came up short in a pitcher’s duel on Thursday night with a 1-0 loss to Eau Claire (27-16) to start a two-game series.

The Rox got another stellar outing from starter Joe Battaglia (Southern) on the mound. Battaglia went five-and-a-third innings, giving up just one run to keep St. Cloud in it. Battaglia has now allowed two runs or less in five or more innings in all of his starts this season.

Out of the bullpen, Jacob Moskowitz (Central Missouri) tossed a scoreless seventh inning in his debut with St. Cloud. Moskowitz induced a double play and hurled a strikeout to finish off his first outing.

Rafael Acosta (Georgia State) also worked a scoreless inning in the eighth to keep the Rox within one heading to the final frame. Acosta got the Express to ground into another double play with runners on first and third.

At the plate, Magnum Hofstetter (Hawai’i) came through with a big base hit early on in the game. Hofstetter gave the Rox a chance to get the scoring started early with two runners on in the third.

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

St. Cloud finishes the season series with the Express on Friday, looking for the series split. First pitch from Eau Claire is scheduled for 7:05 pm. The Rox return to Joe Faber Field for the final series before the all-star break against Rochester on Saturday. First pitch at the Rock Pile against the Honkers is scheduled for 6:05 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.