Honkers Lose In Extras 5-4

(Rochester, Minn.)– The Honkers move to 2-6 and 21-21 overall after a tough loss in extra innings Tuesday night at Mayo Field. The Huskies defeated the Honkers 5-4 in 14 innings.

Spencer Greer (Western Nevada Community College) made his seventh start of the season Tuesday, seeking his fourth win this season.

To begin the first, Greer pitched around a walk and a single to keep the Huskies off the board for the Honkers in the bottom half of the inning.

Looking for a good start at the plate to help end their three-game losing streak, the Honkers jumped ahead in the first inning on a two-run home run with two out from Jeff Campbell (North Dakota), his fourth of the summer. The two RBIs gave him a 23 for the season.

The Huskies answered with a solo home run off the bat of Dominic Brugnoni (Florida Southern), his second of the season, cutting the Honkers’ lead in half, 2-1.

After Brugnoni opened the fourth inning with a single, Greer hit third baseman Alex Greene (West Florida). With two outs, Duluth grabbed the lead back from Rochester on a three-run home run from leadoff man Trent Chatterton (California, Los Angeles) – it was Chatterton’s first home run of the season and raised his season’s RBI total to nine. Headed to the bottom of the fourth inning, the Honkers trailed the Huskies, 4-2.

Greer exited the game in the fifth inning after suffering an apparent injury that he was unable to pitch through. Blake Quinn (Fresno State) came on in relief for Greer and inherited a runner on first base with nobody out. But Quinn pitched out of it, striking out two, retiring the first three he faced.

After pitching out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth, with two on and nobody out. Peters found himself in the exact same position in the seventh; he hit Ryan Boldt (Nebraska) for the second time in the game and walked Alex Schultz (Nebraska Omaha) with one out. This time, Peters would not have the opportunity to pitch out of it himself as lefty reliever A.J. McElderry (Indiana State) came on.

McElderry faced just one batter, Connor Schaefbauer (Minnesota), and was removed after Schaefbauer singled to center field. Steve Villines (Kansas) was called upon, inheriting the bases loaded and just one out for the middle of the Honkers’ lineup. Villines struck out Campbell before walking in the Honkers’ third run of the game. That was the only run he’d allow, but the Honkers got back within one run of the tie, 4-3, as the game moved into the eighth inning.

After a scoreless inning and a half, the Honkers had just three outs to tie the game. Boldt led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt.

Reliever Riley Sanderson (North Alabama) entered the game and retired the first batter he faced, Schaefbauer, and had just one more out to record with Campbell at the plate. But Sanderson hit Campbell and allowed an RBI, game-tying single to Casey Fletcher with two outs.

Tied 4-4, the game headed into extra innings, the first time the two teams would play extra innings against one another.

The Huskies were the first to brake through after a string of scoreless innings. In the top of the 14^th inning, Max Weinstein (California, Irvine) walked Austin Christensen (Nebraska) to start the inning. Christensen scored on a double from Michael Tinsley (Kansas) and the Huskies took a 5-4 lead.

Chase Hoag (Glendale Community College) pitched the final 1.2 innings of the game for the Huskies, earning the win for Duluth, pushing the Honkers to a fourth-straight loss.

The Honkers and Huskies will play again tonight at Mayo Field, first pitch at 7:05 p.m. Will Bamesberger (Creighton) is primed to start Wednesday’s game, seeking his third win in as many appearances. Ticket information can be found at rochesterhonkers.com.

courtesy:  Andy Sroka  rochesterhonkers.com