The Bucks won their 4th straight Sunday afternoon, taking down the Beetles by a score of 12-11. This also gives the Bucks a sweep in Alexandria and puts this season’s road record at a very impressive 15-8. The blue and yellow are 9-9 on the second half of the season and just two and a half games back of the division leading Duluth Huskies.
The game started off rocky for the Bucks as the home team chased off starter Brock Hudgens after just one inning of work in which he gave up four runs, three that were earned. Down 4-0 after one inning, the Bucks instantly fought back with four runs of their own in the 2nd. Jason Hockemeyer started off the scoring with an RBI double to score Sean Borman. Hockemeyer was then driven in by Davis Hendrickson with a double of his own. Nico Zych followed that up with an RBI and scored later on a single by Benny Roberts.
Michael Edlefsen was the second pitcher on the night for the Bucks and went 3.2 innings, giving up six earned runs on seven hits.
The Bucks got two more runs in the third to take the lead, including the eighth home run by Kevin Kaczmarski. The Evansville product leads the Bucks in homers this year and will represent the team in the Home Run Derby on Tuesday.
The score was knotted at six going into the 5th inning when the Bucks would take the lead off a two-run homer by Davis Hendrickson. The Beetles came back with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 10-8 lead.
Mikey Ramirez came in that 5th inning and was able to give up no more runs. He ended up going a total of 3.1 innings and gave up no runs on just one hit. He was credited in the end with his first win of the season.
The Bucks took the lead right back from the home team in the 6th. Hockemeyer hit his second double of the game that scored two runs and was driven in by a RBI single from Zych. This gave the Bucks the lead 11-10. The visitors would add an insurance run in the 7th off a fielder’s choice hit by Dan Sheppard. That would turn out to be a crucial run as the Beetles would score another run in the 9th but Kellen Camus would strand the bases loaded to give the Bucks the win. Camus earned his fourth save of the season.
All but one Buck scored a run in the game as well as four Bucks having three hits or more. The most impressive part of the game was the seven through nine hitters (Hockemeyer, Hendrickson, Zych), who went a combined 8-14 with nine RBI and five runs scored. They also had five extra base hits.
The Bucks have a short break as all-star festivities take place. Monday and Wednesday are off days with the Home Run Derby and All-Star game on Tuesday. The derby is scheduled to start at 6:00 pm and the game is set for 7:30 pm. Kevin Kaczmarski, Sean Borman, Austin Barrett, and Jordan Foley will all be playing in the game with Kaczmarski also appearing in the home run derby. The next game for the Bucks will be Thursday at the Rochester Honkers with first pitch set for 7:05 pm. Remember to check out waterloobucks.com for all your latest Bucks information.