St. Cloud, MN – Waterloo fell behind 3-0 early but fought back to gain the lead and never gave it up in an 8-6 win over the St. Cloud Rox. They are now two wins shy of 600 all-time. Connor Cline settled down nicely after a tough 2nd inning and the bats came to play as the Bucks salvaged one of the five games in the series finale. With the win, Waterloo improves to 34-34 overall including 15-18 in the second half with just two games to play in the regular season. The Rox had a chance to take over first place by themselves after a Willmar loss but instead remain a half game back of first place. Their record sits at 29-39 in 2012 and 20-14 in the second half of play.
The home team was on the board first in the bottom of the 2nd with three runs. Those runs came by way of an RBI single and a two-run double.
The blue and yellow were able to tie the game up at three runs a piece in there half of the 3rd. The first run came in when Davis Hendrickson scored on a Connor McCallum groundout. Another one crossed the plate on a Connor McClain double scoring Thomas Lindauer. Benny Roberts then tied the game up when he brought across McClain with an RBI single. A 6-4-3 double play ended the threat with the score tied.
The starter for Waterloo, Connor Cline got into a groove and the Bucks were able to take a 5-3 lead in the top of the 6th inning. Kevin Kaczmarski stepped to the plate with Austin Barrett on first after being hit by a pitch. Kaczmarski then hit a no-doubt home run to right-center field, his team-leading tenth of the season.
In the top of the 7th, Lindauer started things off with a single. He would steal second and then McClain would walk. Lindauer then stole third as well and later scored on an RBI single by McClain to make the score 6-3. Roberts walked to load the bases up with still no outs recorded in the inning. One out later, Kaczmarski continued his hot hitting with a two-run single to add even more insurance and give Waterloo an 8-3 advantage.
The Rox then scored in their half of the 7th for the first time since the 3rd inning. The Bucks’ lead was cut in half on an RBI single and St. Cloud wasn’t done. Two more runs crossed the plate on a two-run double to shrink the guests’ lead to just 8-6 through seven innings.
Waterloo threatened to increase their two-run lead in the top of the 9th by getting two men on. However, those runners were stranded leaving the score at 8-6 heading into the home half of the 9th.
The first runner reached against Ryan Doty but the following batter grounded into a 1-6-3 double play. The final out was then recorded on a fly ball to center fielder, Roberts.
Cline takes the win for the Bucks and improves to 3-3 while Billy Soule is tonight’s loser and is now 2-5 on the summer. On the night, Cline threw 6.2 innings and gave up five runs on seven hits while striking out two and walking three. In relief, Doty pitched two and a third innings of one run ball on two hits while striking out and walking one batter a piece.
Kaczmarski led the way at the plate with four runs batted in while McClain brought in two from the leadoff spot as well.
Next up, Waterloo returns to Riverfront Stadium for the final two games of the season against the Mankato MoonDogs. First pitch Saturday is set for 6:35 p.m. while Sunday’s matinee is slated to start at 3:05 p.m. Keep checking into www.waterloobucks.com for all of your latest information on The Cedar Valley’s Home Team.
