ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Aaron Rozek scattered five hits over six innings, St. Cloud scored the go-ahead run in the third inning and the Rox beat the Stingers 7-0 at Joe Faber Field to halt the Stingers two-game winning streak.
After the biggest offensive showing of the season on Sunday night against La Crosse, Willmar (13-14) couldn’t break through against Rox pitching staff in the first meeting of the summer between the two teams.
The closest the Stingers would get to plating a run came in the third inning with the score still knotted at zero.
After Brandon Perez (USC) grounded out to start the inning, the Stingers strung together three straight base hits to load the bases. Dylan Woods (Nova Southeastern) started that stretch off with a single to right, and Quincy McAfee (Pepperdine) and Danny Pardo (Montevallo) followed with singles of their own.
But the Stingers would leave the bases loaded, as Rozek got the final two men in the inning.
St. Cloud would go on to take the lead in the bottom half of the inning with a single run. The Rox added three runs in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Pardo led the charge at the plate for the Stingers with three hits in four trips, including a first-inning double. With the 3-for-4 night, Pardo now has eight hits in his last 12 at bats for Willmar. Monday’s performance increased his average to .386, one point off the league lead.
Tonight’s Center for Diagnostic Imaging player of the game was Danny Pardo. CDI is your local medical imaging provider. It’s your choice where you go for medical imaging, for MRI, CT, mammograms and pain injections, choose CDI. Visit online at myCDI.com/CentralMN.
Willmar now returns home for three games in two days against the Rox, which includes Corn and Bean Nation Night presented by the Kandiyohi County Corn & Soybean Growers Association on Tuesday. The first 100 adults through the gates on Tuesday will receive either a “Corn Nation” or “Bean Nation” t-shirt.
The 2016 Stingers season is presented by Marcus Construction. For more coverage of the Stingers visit the West Central Tribune online at www.wctrib.com.
