ALEXANDRIA, Minn. – Three different Stingers hit solo home runs, including back-to-back homers by Dillon Haupt and Kenny Roberts, to highlight a 12-6 victory against the Beetles at Knute Nelson Memorial Park Tuesday evening.
The contest began as a back-and-forth contest with five different lead changes, but the Stingers (19-14) finished with seven unanswered runs to pull away for the victory and move into sole possession of second place in the Northwoods League North Division.
Trailing 4-2 in the fourth inning, Dillon Haupt (San Diego) hit a solo home run to center field to lead off the frame, and Kenny Roberts (Alabama) followed with a deep fly ball to nearly an identical spot to tie the game, 4-4. The Stingers went ahead in the fifth with on an RBI groundout by Haupt to score Andre Wheeler (Texas Tech).
Haupt finished the game 4-for-6 with three RBIs. He is now 8-for-15 with six RBIs since joining the Stingers with a home run in each of his three starts with the team. Roberts reached base five of six times with a 3-for-3 day at the plate, a walk and a hit by pitch. Roberts’ six home runs are the third most in the Northwoods League.
Alexandria came back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead, 6-5, but Willmar broke the game open in the seventh with four runs. Hunter Dozier (Stephen F. Austin) began the inning with a single and scored two batters later on an RBI single by Haupt. Later in the inning, Max Kuhn (Kentucky) walked with the bases loaded, and JD Dorgan (St. Thomas) bounced into a fielder’s choice to earn his sixth RBI. Forrestt Allday (Central Arkansas) capped off the frame with an RBI single to score Brady Anderson (Florida Gulf Coast) and give the Stingers a decisive 9-6 advantage.
The Stingers added a run in the eighth on Michael Suchy’s (Florida Gulf Coast) fifth home run for his league-leading 32nd RBI of the year.
Mark Lukowski (Creighton) earned his first victory of the season with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief to lower his ERA to 2.61. As a unit, the Willmar bullpen pitched four innings of shutout ball, allowing only three baserunners while striking out three. Jon Flinn (Hawaii) tossed five innings in the start, surrendering five earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts.
Willmar took its first lead of the game in the second inning when Steve Talbott (Purdue) hit an RBI single and scored one batter later on an RBI single by Kuhn to put the Stingers in front, 2-1. Kuhn went 1-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs to give him nine for the season.
Willmar will conclude the first half of the 2012 Northwoods League season Wednesday afternoon with its fifth straight game against the Beetles. The game is scheduled for 3:05 p.m.
The 2012 season is presented by Charter. For more information on your Willmar Stingers be sure to visit the West Central Tribune at www.wctrib.com.
