Season-high 13 runs and 15 hits gives Bucks early 1-0 advantage in SCHEELS Highway 63 Cup.
Box Score: http://northwoods.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=316672
By: Jared Shlensky
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A season-high 13 runs on 15 hits lifted Waterloo to a 13-1 win over Rochester in the first of eight games in the SCHEELS Highway 63 Cup. Five different Bucks hitters finished with multi-hit nights while Patrick Boyle (1-0) yielded an unearned run on one hit, striking out three and walking three in six innings.
Blake Alexander (2), Adam McGinnis (1) and Matthew Paciello (1) each went yard in the series opener against Rochester on Monday night.
Waterloo (5-2) plated their first of 13 runs with a run in the second. Tyler Curtis recorded the first hit of the game with a single to right before scoring on McGinnis’s RBI double off the base of the right-center fence.
The Bucks extended their lead to 3-0 with two more runs in the third. Taylor Boyd opened the frame with a single to left before Perry doubled to right, bringing in Boyd from first. After a Jake Hand groundout moved Perry to third, McGinnis reached on a Rochester fielding error, allowing Perry to score from third.
Waterloo added four more runs in the top of the fifth. Perry doubled for the second time to begin the frame before Hand singled to left, giving the Bucks runners on the corners. Hand’s single also extended his team-best hitting streak to seven games. McGinnis then plated his second of three runs on the night with a single to left, bringing in Perry. Alexander followed with a three-run bomb to right, his second in as many days, to make it 7-0.
Rochester (2-4) got their lone run of the night in the bottom half of the fifth. Christopher Scalisi reached on the first of four Bucks errors to start the inning. A throwing error by Boyle on a pickoff attempt moved Scalisi from first to third before scoring on a wild pitch, cutting the Bucks’ lead to 7-1.
Waterloo tacked on another run in the sixth to go up 8-1. Perry drew a two-out walk before moving up to second on a failed double steal, resulting in Colin Kreiter being gunned down at third. Perry then came into score on a wild pitch followed by a throwing error by catcher Brett Harrison.
The Bucks put up four more runs in the seventh to go up 12-1. McGinnis led off the inning with his first homer of the year to right before Boyd doubled in both Alexander and Kreiter with a double to right-center. Perry recorded the final run of the inning with an RBI single to right, scoring Boyd from second.
Matthew Paciello led off the top of the ninth with a first-pitch solo home run to left. The home run for Paciello was the third of the night and his first of the year.
Tim Mulvey retired all six hitters he faced in his Waterloo Bucks debut while Andy Muehlberger closed out the game with a scoreless bottom of the ninth.
Erik Cha (0-2) suffered his second straight loss for Rochester. The southpaw allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out six over four innings.
The Bucks return home for the start of a three-game homestand on Tuesday, June 7 against Rochester. First pitch in the series finale vs. Rochester is at 7:05 p.m., with gates opening at 6 p.m. Brett Solano (0-0, 5.40) makes his second start of the year for Waterloo while Rochester sends RHP Isaac Friesen (0-0, 0.00) to the hill.
Tuesday’s game vs. the Honkers is a Twins Ticket Giveaway. One fan will receive a pair of tickets to an upcoming Twins game this season as part of the SCHEELS Highway 63 Cup.
