The Waterloo Bucks (2-1) plated nine runs during the sixth inning to lock up a 14-8 road victory over the Rochester Honkers (2-1) on Wednesday night, closing out their season-opening three-game road trip with a winning record. Thanks to Bismarck walking off Duluth, the Bucks are now alone in first place in the Great Plains-East standings. Waterloo drew seven walks, pounded out 10 hits and went 7-for-13 (.538) with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n
Blake Corsentino served as the opener for Waterloo, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings on 30 pitches, allowing a hit and striking out one. The righthander racked up six swinging strikes for a 20.0% whiff rate.<\/p>\n
The Bucks struck first in the opening frame as Garrett McGowan (1-for-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 ROE) reached on a throwing error that allowed him to take second, was moved to third on a Tavan Shahidi (0-for-4, BB, R) groundout then scored on a wild pitch.<\/p>\n
Rochester plated a pair in the home half of the fourth but Waterloo promptly responded, picking up back-to-back singles by Gabe Baldovino (2-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, SB) and Blaine Marchman (1-for-3, HBP, 2 R, RBI) to open the fifth. Aaron Treloar (2-for-5, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI) blasted a three-run home run off the scoreboard in right-center, giving Waterloo a 4-2 lead.<\/p>\n
Jordan Nelson gave the Bucks a gutsy effort in relief, firing 5.0 innings of six-hit, two-walk baseball while allowing four earned and striking out six. He picked up the win, racking up 12 whiffs on 76 pitches and working at a 65.8% strike rate.<\/p>\n
Emi Gonzalez (2-for-4, BB, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI) and Daniel Irisarri (1-for-4, BB, R, 2 RBI) drew one-out walks in the sixth, followed by a Baldovino single that loaded the bases. Marchman was hit by a pitch, scoring Gonzalez, then a Treloar tapper to third led to a wild play. Rochester\u2019s third baseman threw wildly to home in an effort to cut down the lead runner, instead permitting both Irisarri and Baldovino to cross home safely. Now leading 7-2, Paul Steffensen (1-for-5, BB, R, RBI) and McGowan each rapped RBI singles. Shahidi drew a walk to reload the bases, then two batters later Gonzalez rifled a double down the right field line, plating a par. Irisarri capped off the nine-run frame with a two-run single poked down the left field line.<\/p>\n
Waterloo added one more in the eighth as Baldovino walked, moved to second on a passed ball and scored thanks to a Gonzalez RBI single.<\/p>\n
The Bucks and Honkers wrap up their series on Thursday at Cost Cutters Field at Riverfront Stadium as Waterloo celebrates their 2021 Home Opener. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CST, with the first 500 fans through the gates receiving a free 2021 Waterloo Bucks Poster containing the team\u2019s 2021 schedule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Waterloo Bucks (2-1) plated nine runs during the sixth inning to lock up a 14-8 road victory over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n