St. Cloud, MN—The Stingers defeat the Rox in Game 2 of the series 8-2. This was the last time these two teams will see each other in the regular season.

Ricky Maddock (Central Missouri) made his first start on the mound for the Stingers. He went three innings allowing one unearned run. Maddock walked three batters and struck out five. Willmar took the lead in the first inning when Brennan McKenzie knocked an RBI double scoring Riley Johnson (Augustana). 1-0 Stingers. The Rox answered with a run of their own in the third. One hit and one error in the inning tied the game at 1-1.

James Gamble (UNLV) hit a clutch two out, two-run double in the fourth that scored Walsh and Bosetti. That advanced the Stingers ahead of St. Cloud to 3-1. Luke DeGrammont (Concordia-St. Paul) pitched the next 2.1 scoreless innings. He issued one walk and tallied two strikeouts. The fifth and sixth innings were held scoreless in the Highway 23 rivalry. In the seventh, McKenzie blew the game open with a three-run home run to left field. Baier and Gamble scored along with McKenzie to push the lead to 6-1 Stingers.

Joel Cheatwood (Montevallo) was next in relief for Willmar. He pitched the next 2.2 innings. In the eighth, Riley Johnson (Augustana) hit a bases loaded single that scored Bosetti and Fowler. 8-1 Stingers. The Rox scored their lone run off Cheatwood in the eighth. 8-2 Stingers. Josh Wintroub (Augustana College) pitched the ninth inning for Willmar. He held the game where it was with the final score 8-2 Stingers on top.

The Stingers will head back to Willmar for a weekend series against the Eau Claire Express. The first pitch tomorrow will be at 7:05pm CT!