BRAINERD—Thanks to a brilliant effort from starter Jeff Barto, and lots of timely hitting, the Stingers came away winners in their first road game in club history 7-4 Tuesday night in Brainerd.  With the win, Willmar improved to 3-3 on the season thanks to their two game home-and-home  sweep of their North Division rivals.

In his first start of the season, Barto was impressive, allowing just two unearned runs on two hits, striking out four in five and a third innings pitched to earn his first win of the season.  Matt Collins threw two and a third innings in relief before giving way to Jayson Huett.  The NW Missouri State product got the final four outs for the Stingers, earning his first save of the year.

Offensively, the Willmar attack was as balanced as it has been all year, with all but one Stinger hitter delivering a hit.  In his first start at short, Pepperdine freshman Joe Sever had a two-RBI single in the fifth and  leftfielder Matt Serna added a pair of RBI’s to up his total to four on the year.

The Stingers look to push their winning streak to three games Wednesday night as they return home to Bill Taunton Stadium for a two-game set with the Alexandria Beetles.  For tickets, call the Stingers ticket office at 320-222-2010, or visit willmarstingers.com for more information.  The 2010 season is presented by Charter.