ROCHESTER, MN  Landon Simpson was nothing short of excellent on the mound, while Mikal Hill and David Kerian each hit solo home runs to lift the Waterloo Bucks to a 2-1 victory over the Rochester Honkers on Saturday night.

Simpson allowed one run on three hits, striking out four and walking one in eight innings of work. He compiled five perfect innings and only three Rochester batters reached scoring position. His effort was enough to pull out a pitcher's duel that saw Rochester starter Matt Kent strikeout 12 Bucks' batters in eight innings himself.

While Kent was as good as Simpson, the Bucks won thanks to a pair of homers and a timely defensive play.

Kerian drilled a deep drive to left in the second and Hill followed with a similar shot in the third to put the Bucks up 2-0. 

Rochester didn't have a base runner until the fourth when Connor Schaefbauer led off with an infield single and scored on Alex Schultz's double to right center. With the Bucks' clinging to a one run lead, the Honkers eventually put runners on the corners with two outs.

The runner at first, John Schuknect attempted to steal second but catcher Zack Soria fired a strike to the bag to nail him and complete the third out. If Schuknect had been safe, the runner from third would've come in to tie the score.

Rochester never had a serious rally after that and the Bucks would hold on for the win.