Honkers, Bucks Split Home And Away Pair

Two Hassel homers fall short of giving Honkers the day’s sweep of Waterloo

(Rochester, Minn.)– The Honkers and Bucks’ season series finale ended Wednesday evening at Mayo Field – the two teams’ second contest of the day. While the Honkers took the first game, Waterloo won the second, 6-4, and the teams split the day’s doubleheader.

Honkers starter Will Bamesberger (Creighton) got into some trouble early against the Bucks. With runners on second and third with no outs, Kevin Kaczmarski (Evansville) chopped an infield single to the right side, scoring the first run of the game. The second Bucks run scored on a wild pitch delivered by Bamesberger, giving Waterloo a two-run lead before the Honkers’ first at-bat.

The Honkers countered the Bucks’ top half of the first with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Connor Schaefbauer (Minnesota) doubled into the left field corner. Reid Roper (Illinois) smacked a single in front of right fielder Will Sparks (Washington), who misplayed it, letting the ball roll to the fence, allowing Schaefbauer to score, cutting Waterloo’s lead in half, 2-1.

While the second and third innings were scoreless, the Bucks added to their lead in the fourth on a solo home run from Blake Berger (Florida Gulf Coast), his first of the season, with nobody out. After Pat MacKenzie (Central Michigan) walked, Will Sparks smacked a triple off of the left field fence, scoring MacKenzie with two outs. Rochester trailed by three runs, 4-1, into the bottom of the fourth.

But, again, when the Bucks scored, the Honkers answered. With runners on first and second base and two outs, Ryne Roper (Illinois) singled to left field, scoring Jordan Smith (Minnesota) and getting back Rochester within two runs of the tie, but still trailing Waterloo, 4-2.

Bamesberger’s start was finished after four innings – he allowed four runs on five hits, three walks and six strikeouts. Brandon Nickolite (Mount Marty College) debuted for the Honkers in the fifth and relinquished a fifth run for the Bucks on a sacrifice fly from Berger, pushing Waterloo to a 5-2 lead.

Once more, the Honkers negated the Bucks’ productive half inning by scoring in the bottom of the inning. Corey Hassel (Oklahoma State) led off the fifth by hitting a towering solo home run to left center field – his team-leading seventh home run this season – pulling the Honkers into just a two-run deficit.

Waterloo extended their lead in the eighth, however, to 6-3 after Mikal Hill (North Carolina at Charlotte) homered, his third of the summer, off reliever Nick Highberger (Creighton) – all three have come against the Honkers at Mayo Field.

Colin Wendiger (St. Thomas) relieved Bucks starter Nick Veale (Northern Iowa Area Community College) in the sixth and pitched the final four innings to earn his first save of the season. He gave up just two hits in relief and his lone run allowed came in the ninth inning when Corey Hassel homered for the second time in the game and his eighth this summer. Hassel’s heroics in the ninth stopped short of generating a late comeback for the Honkers and the Bucks beat Rochester, 6-4.

Solid start from Gruener and timely hitting helps Honkers to win in Waterloo, 6-4

(Rochester, Minn.)– In the day’s first of two games between the Honkers and the Bucks, Rochester made the most of their opportunities to defeat Waterloo, 6-4, at Riverfront Stadium.

After the Honkers threatened but failed to score in the top half of the first, the Bucks opened the game’s scoring in the bottom of the inning off Honkers starter Nick Gruener (Harvard).

Pat MacKenzie (Central Michigan) led off with a single to get things started in Waterloo but Gruener retired the next two batters. With two outs, Bucks center fielder Kevin Kaczmarski (Evansville) singled in MacKenzie to give the Bucks an early 1-0 lead.

In the fourth, Jeff Campbell (North Dakota) singled to begin the inning. Moving to second after a wild pitch from Bucks starter Nick Deckert (Florida Gulf Coast), Reid Roper (Illinois) drove him in on an RBI single, tying the game at one with nobody out. Two outs later, Tanner Buenting (Iowa Central Community College) singled in Travis Hull (Chabot College) from second base, and the Honkers grabbed the one-run lead.

An inning later in the fifth, the Honkers tacked on a few more runs to their lead. With runners on first and third, Roper grounded a ball to second base and beat out the would-be double play to earn his second RBI of the game and carried the Honkers to a 3-1 advantage. They weren’t finished in the inning, though.

Tim Shannon (Minnesota) relieved Deckert after walking Travis Hull to put runners on first and second with two outs and college teammate Jordan Smith (Minnesota) at the plate. Smith bested Shannon with an RBI single to center and Jack Goihl (Augustana College) followed Smith with a double to right field to score another run, and the Honkers stormed to a 5-1 lead.

The Bucks charged back in the bottom half of the fifth, though, with back-to-back doubles to pull them within three runs of the tie off Gruener. Later in the inning, Waterloo loaded the bases off Gruener with two outs and David Kerian (Illinois) at the plate, Bucks’ team leader in RBIs. But Gruener coaxed Kerian to a pop out to Roper at third base and the Honkers escaped with a three-run lead.

When Connor McClain (Indiana State) led off the bottom of the sixth with a double, Honkers field manager Matt Bowman decided to make a change on the mound, calling on righty reliever Ryne Roper (Illinois). Roper recorded the inning’s first two outs, but an error committed by the second baseman Buenting scored Roper’s inherited run, making it 5-3 ballgame.

The Honkers earned their sixth run in the eighth inning with two outs and runners on first and third base when Alex Schultz (Nebraska Omaha) was caught stealing second base, but wasted enough time for Jordan Smith to score from third.

After two strong innings in relief from Ryne Roper and a scoreless eighth from Brandon Stennis (Doane College), the Honkers handed the ball to Carl Jameson (Missouri Baptist) to close out their win Wednesday afternoon. Jameson allowed one run but still retired the side with the lead intact as the Honkers win the day’s first game, 6-4.

The Honkers travel to Willmar today to begin a two-game series with the Stingers on Thursday and Friday. They’ll return home on Saturday for two, seven-inning games with the Thunder Bay Border Cats beginning at 5:05 p.m. Ticket information can be found at rochesterhonkers.com.

Courtesy: Andy Sroka/rochesterhonkers.com