Waterloo, IA – The Waterloo Bucks squandered the series opener to the St. Cloud Rox, losing 2-1 to at Riverfront Stadium on Thursday, July 10.

In just his second Northwoods League start, Colton Blankstrom pitched longer into his outing than any Bucks pitcher has lasted in any other contest this year. Hurling eight innings, the Davenport University righty from Whitehall, Michigan, shut the Rox out and allowed just three hits and four walks for the entire night while striking out three. With this performance, Blankstrom secured the ninth quality start of the year for Waterloo. However, it still did not give the Bucks enough for a victory.

Waterloo struck out a season-high 14 times at the plate and pushed across a single run for the duration of the affair. That run came in the bottom of the first on a Marcus Heusohn RBI single that sent Larry Edwards home to open the scoring.

Neither side put up any runs for the remainder of the contest until the top of the ninth when the Rox bats finally came to life, scratching across a pair to take the lead. Sam Hanson punched out a batter to end the frame in his Northwoods League debut, but Waterloo came up with no runs in the bottom half.

Reaching on a walk in the bottom of the fourth, Jake Slade extended his on-base streak to 18 games. Cole Smith logged two doubles, and Frankie Santiago collected a two-bagger, a single and a walk, reaching three times to tie a game high. Edwards earned the only other hit of the day for the Bucks as he also worked a base on balls.

Tomorrow, Friday, July 11, for the second time this season, the Waterloo Bucks will play as their alternate identity — the Iowa Sweet Corn. The club finishes out its series with the Rox at Riverfront Stadium with first pitch set for 6:35 pm (CDT).

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