St. Cloud, MN – Behind a shutout pitching performance and a season-high 12 runs, St. Cloud (6-4) finished off a sweep of Duluth (3-9) for the second time this season.

R.J. Martinez (Minot State) started his second game of the season against the Huskies and was even more dominant the second time around. Martinez went six innings allowing no runs on just three hits and punching out seven Huskies, a season-high.

It was an all-Minot State affair on the mound as Martinez’ teammate, Noah Myhre, was the only reliever the Rox sent out on Friday. Myhre struck out four in three innings to close off the Rox’ first shutout of 2021.

Martinez was given cushion early from the Rox bats as St. Cloud’s first six batters reached base in the first inning, with four coming around to score. Jack Winkler (San Francisco) had a base hit to start off the inning and the next five Rox were either walked or hit by a pitch.

Jordan Barth (Augustana) had his best game of the summer with two hits today and two RBI’s while reaching base four times. Otto Kemp (Point Loma Nazarene) also had two hits in Friday’s win, finishing the series against Duluth with a five-for-eight clip.

In the two-game series against the Huskies, the Rox were able to tally 20 hits, 27 walks and 23 runs for their first true offensive outburst of the season. St. Cloud nearly doubled its season run total during the series sweep.

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

The Rox have now won four straight games and catapulted themselves into second place in the Great Plains West. St. Cloud is just one game back of the division-leading Willmar Stingers.

Up next, St. Cloud will welcome the Eau Claire Express to town for the weekend with games on Saturday and Sunday. First pitch from Joe Faber Field on Saturday evening is scheduled for 6:05 pm as the Rox look to grow the win streak to five games.

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.