ROCHESTER, Minn. – Blake Shepherd (Viterbo) blasted a pinch-hit solo home run in the seventh to spark a five-run inning that saw the Stingers overcome a three-run deficit and eventually defeat the Rochester Honkers, 8-5, Tuesday night at Mayo Field in Rochester, Minn.

The Stingers scored five runs on four hits in the deciding frame, capped off by a pinch-hit two-run single by Eduardo Gonzalez (Alcorn State) to give the Stingers a 7-5 lead. Pat Stover (Santa Clara) earned his 20th RBI of the year with a sacrifice fly in the inning, while Mitch Delfino (California) added an RBI double. Mitch Rowan (Willamette), Jason Leblebijian (Bradley), Sean Dwyer (Florida Gulf Coast), Shepherd and Delfino all scored runs in the seventh.

The Stingers had the lead early in the game as well, scoring two runs on one hit to take a quick 2-0 advantage in the first inning. Leblebijian was hit by a pitch and scored later on a wild pitch. Dwyer had the one hit of the inning and scored two batters later on an RBI fielder’s choice by Delfino, but Rochester came back with five unanswered runs including home runs by Johnny Coy and Ryan Hambright, to grab a 5-2 lead by the end of the sixth.

Chris Gonzales (Point Loma Nazarene) received the victory after pitching two innings of relief, allowing two runs on three hits. Jack Shannon (San Diego) earned his second save of the season by pitching two scoreless innings to close the ballgame, striking out two while only surrendering one hit.

Sean Dwyer had a solo home run in the ninth inning to make the final score 8-5. It was Dwyer’s sixth home run and 26th RBI of the season. He trails only Shepherd for home runs for the Stingers. Shepherd has nine long balls for Willmar.

The Stingers will play their final game of the season against Rochester Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. They will then return home Thursday for four games in three days against Mankato, beginning with \”Jerseys Off Our Back Night\” presented by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Fans will be able to bid on the Stingers players’ jerseys during Thursday night’s game with the proceeds going to the Willmar Lakes Area Food Shelf.

The 2011 season is presented by Charter.