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Published On: September 27th, 2013

WILLMAR, Minn. – Every Stinger had at least one hit, and the Willmar pitching staff retired 15 consecutive hitters at one point to defeat the Alexandria Beetles at Bill Taunton Stadium Saturday night, 3-1.

Pat Stover (Santa Clara) led the offensive attack with a 2-for-4 day, including a double and two RBIs. Eduardo Gonzalez (Alcorn State) and Jason Leblebijian (Bradley) also had multi-hit games for the Stingers. Leblebijian went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Gonzalez was 2-for-3 with a run and a sacrifice bunt. Mitch Delfino scored the other run for the Stingers on a 1-for-4 day at the plate. Chris Woolley drove home his third RBI in two games while going 1-for-4 as well.

Dan Russell (Western Illinois) earned the victory after allowing only one one run on four hits in five innings on the mound. Russell improved his record to 6-2 on the season while striking out six and not walking a single batter. Russell retired the last six batters he faced to begin a stretch where the Stingers recorded 15-straight outs on defense.

Jack Shannon (San Diego) pitched a perfect 1 1/3 innings in relief, and Ricky Knapp (Florida Gulf Coast) worked a perfect 1 2/3 innings to turn the ball over to Tanner Banks (Salt Lake College). Banks got the final three outs of the game for his first save of the year.

Willmar will now embark on a four-game road trip, beginning with an afternoon contest in Alexandria Sunday at 3:05 p.m. The Stingers will then play three games at Rochester before returning home Thursday, August 4, for \”Jerseys Off Our Back Night\” presented by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Fans will be able to bid on the Stingers players’ jerseys with the proceeds going to the Willmar Lakes Area Food Shelf. Next Thursday’s game begins at 7:05 p.m.

The 2011 season is presented by Charter.