ROCHESTER, Minn. – Willmar held a 1-0 lead going into the ninth inning, but the Rochester Honkers came back to score two runs in the final frame to walk-off with a 2-1 victory over the Stingers Monday night at Mayo Field in Rochester, Minn.

Kody Gorden (Western Nevada College) pitched 5 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing only five hits and one walk while striking out three to start the game. Ricky Knapp (Florida Gulf Coast) struck out two in 1 1/3 innings of relief, and Tanner Banks (Salt Lake College) struck out three while only allowing one hit in his 1 1/3 innings out of the bullpen.

Blake Shepherd (Viterbo) scored the only run for the Stingers after leading off the fifth inning with a single. Anthony Bemboom (Creighton) moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. After a wild pitch moved Shepherd to third, Garrett Borba (Pacific) brought him home with a sacrifice fly.

It looked like the one run would hold up with the Stingers still leading 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but back-to-back RBI singles by Jake Page and Devin Thaut gave the Honkers a 2-1 come-from-behind victory.

Willmar and Rochester will meet again Tuesday night for the second game of a three-game series at 7:05 p.m.

The 2011 season is presented by Charter.