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Nine different Stingers had hits, seven different players had RBIs and six different Stingers scored twice in a game where the Willmar Stingers scored a season-high 15 runs on 17 hits against the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers for a 15-3 victory Saturday night at Bill Taunton Stadium.
Eduardo Gonzalez (Alcorn State) and Jarid Scarafiotti (Stephen F. Austin) each had three-hit games, while Sean Dwyer (Florida Gulf Coast) and Ryan Dettman (Oregon State) hit home runs in the contest. Eight of Willmar’s 17 hits went for extra bases, including two doubles each by Gonzalez and Mitch Rowan (Willamette).
Willmar sent 11 batters to the plate in each of the fourth and fifth innings and scored seven runs in each frame to break a 1-1 tie into the 15-3 lead that the Stingers enjoyed for the final four innings.
In the fourth, Willmar scored seven runs on seven hits, which was highlighted by three consecutive doubles by Rowan, Jason Leblebijian (Bradley) and Gonzalez with two outs in the inning. Garrett Borba (Pacific) had an RBI walk in the inning. Scarafiotti and Dettman each had RBIs in the inning on a single and sacrifice fly, respectively. Dettman finished the game with a team-high four RBIs in the game, including his first home run of the season, after coming into the contest with three runs batted in for the year.
Dwyer led off the fifth inning with a solo home run. He would come up later in the frame and hit a two-run double with two outs to give hime three RBIs for the game on a night where he went 2-for-5 at the plate. Dettman hit his three-run homer in the fifth as well.
Rowan, Leblebijian, Dwyer and Pat Stover (Santa Clara) each had two-hit nights. Rowan, Gonzalez, Stover, Borba, Scarafiotti and Mitch Delfino (California), each scored multiple runs in the game. Rowan, Gonzalez and Scarafiotti had two RBIs in the game, while Leblebijian and Borba had an RBI apiece.
Kody Gorden (Western Nevada College) went 4 1/3 innings in his final start of 2011 and allowed three runs on five hits with six strikeouts. The victory went to Kurt Spomer (Creighton), who only faced four batters but got five outs because he induced a double play to end the fifth inning. Jack Shannon (San Diego) struck out one in a scoreless seventh inning. Josh Hoekstra (Century College) did not allow a run or a walk in two innings to close the game. He has now pitched four-straight scoreless innings in his last two outings.
The Stingers will conclude the 2011 season with a home game against Alexandria as part of Fan Appreciation Weekend presented by Marcus Construction. There will be a pre-game fan fest from 3-5 p.m., which will include player autographs/pictures, food and inflatables for kids. Stingers prizes will be given away throughout the game, including a set of 2012 season tickets presented by Marcus Construction & Lakeland Broadcasting. The gates will open at 3 p.m. for fan fest. First pitch against Alexandria will be at 6:05 p.m.
The 2011 season is presented by Charter.