Waterloo, IA – Honkers starter Matt Milke delivered six innings of one-run baseball to allow Jacob Neutz and the rest of the offense to go to work. Neutz crushed a pair of two-run home runs to lead the charge in the 14-3 rout of the Bucks in game one of the series.
In the midst of a six-game losing streak, Rochester was eager to get out to a hot start in the top of the first inning on Friday. Matt Maize led off with a double, then after two outs, he scored on a throwing error to allow the Honkers to take a 1-0 lead. One batter later, Jacob Neutz crushed a two-run home run to left to jump the advantage to 3-0.
That was more than enough support for Honkers’ starter Matt Milke. The right-hander went six innings for a quality start in his first start in the Northwoods League.
In the top of the fifth, Rochester added on to their lead. Maize worked a walk to open the frame, then moved up on a single. After moving up on a wild pitch, Maize scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-0. One batter later, Ezekiel Mendoza legged out an infield RBI single to grow the lead to 5-0.
In the top of the sixth, Mark Muenkel walked to begin the frame, then moved to second on a single. During the next at-bat, a throwing error opened the door for the run to score to make it 6-0.
In the last of the sixth, the Bucks got on the board. Caleb Parker walked and a Jake Slade singled led off the inning before a double play brought the run across to make it 6-1.
In the top of the seventh, Rochester delivered the dagger. Cooper Kruk walked in front of Neutz who launched his second two-run home run to put the game out of reach, 9-1.
The Honkers tagged on five more runs in the top of the ninth with a three-run home run by Seth Thompson to put the finishing touches on Waterloo in a 14-3 victory Friday night.
With the loss, the Bucks go to 23-32 on the season and 9-12 in the second half. Game two of the series is up at Mayo Field Saturday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm. Sam Skarich is on the mound for Waterloo against Aaron Terpstra of Rochester.