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Rochester, MN – The Bucks were in Rochester tonight to take on the Honkers for the first time since June 13. The blue and yellow came in winning their last four and five in a row against the Honkers. Both of those streaks ended tonight as the hosts took the first of a two-game set by a score of 8-5. With the win, Rochester improves to 8-11 on the second half and 23-31 overall. Waterloo now sits at 9-10 and 28-26 on the summer.
It was a pitchers’ duel in the early going as neither team scored until the 5th inning. That is when the home team would strike first on an RBI single to left field. Until that time, Jake Powers (Missouri State) had gone 17.1 innings without giving up an earned run dating back to July 13. The good guys would take the lead with a three spot in the very next inning.
Nico Zych started things off by reaching on an error by the shortstop. The next batter, Thomas Lindauer reached on a fielder’s choice, 3-6. Then came a bloop single to left from Benny Roberts to put two on and a well-executed double steal put both runners in scoring position. Lindauer would then score on a groundout from Austin Barrett to tie things up at 1-1. With Roberts standing at third, home run derby participant, Kevin Kaczmarski would put the visitors up 3-1 on a two-run home run. That home run is his team leading 9th of the season.
In the bottom of the 7th, the Honkers would take their lead back, 5-3 thanks to an RBI single as well as a three-run blast from Brandon Defazio. That round tripper knocked Powers out of the game bringing in Mikey Ramirez. The Bucks weren’t done just yet though.
In the top of the 8th, Lindauer started things off with a walk and would advance to second on a wild pitch. Barrett then hit a two-run shot to left to tie the game up at 5-5. That is the Mercer product’s 6th home run of the season, all of them coming on the road.
In the bottom of the frame, a three-run home run from Chad Wallach would give Rochester an 8-5 advantage. That is how the score would stand after Waterloo went three up, three down in their half of the 9th inning.
Powers received a no decision after his six and a third innings in which he gave up five runs on six hits while striking out three and walking two. In relief, Ramirez takes the loss (1-6) after giving up the three-runner and pitching 1.2 innings while striking out two and walking one. None of those runs are earned though as the first runner of the inning reached on an error by the third baseman, Sean Borman.
Jared Miller takes the win for the Honkers and improves to 3-2 on the season. Miller pitched an inning and a third of shutout baseball while striking out three Bucks and walking no one.
Barrett led the way with three RBI from his home run while Kaczmarski chipped in two, also from a home run. Kaczmarski now leads the team in home runs as well as RBI with 40.
In other news, the Bucks have waived pitchers Micah Bryan and Derek Lamacchia.
Next up is the second game of this two-game set with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. on Friday night. Keep checking into www.waterloobucks.com for all of your latest information on The Cedar Valley’s Home Team.
