WILLMAR–For the second straight night the Stingers were down three runs in the eighth, but this time, Willmar couldn’t rally back.  The Alexandria Beetles took the second of a two game set at Bill Taunton Stadium on Thursday, beating the Stingers 5-1.  Stingers starter Cody barnes gave up a run in the top of the first, but settled in after that, going seven strong innings allowing eight hits and walking none on 94 pitches before coming out of the game.

 

The lone Stingers run came in the bottom of the first, with Isaac Ballou motoring home from second on a Jordan Smith opposite field single.  Ballou looked to be dead meat at the plate, but a brilliant slide from the Marshall freshman put the Stigners on the board.  With the hit, Smith upped his RBI total to four on the season.

 

Coming on in relief in the eighth, Bryan Willson, who has seen all his time this year at third base, came on to pitch.  Willson got the first Beetles’ hitter to ground out, but walked the next and gave up a single to set the table for pinch hitter Taylor Davis.  Alexandria’s catcher in last night’s game, Davis drove in two runs on a hard-hit triple to left-center, and came around to score on the play on a throwing error by cutoff man Carlos Leyva.

 

With the loss, the Stingers fall to 4-4 on the season.  Friday, the Stingers head to Alexandria for a third straight with the Beetles before motoring north to Duluth for a three game set with the Huskies.  The Stingers return home June 16th vs. the Rochester Honkers, first pitch at 7:05 pm at Bill Taunton Stadium.  For tickets, call 320-222-2010 or visit willmarstinges.com for more information.  Also, be sure to log on to wctrib.com for all your Stingers coverage.  The 2010 season is presented by Charter.