Honkers Losing Streak Extended
(Rochester, Minn.) – The Rochester Honkers fell to the Duluth Huskies 18-8 at Mayo Field.
The Honkers got out to an early 2-0 lead to start the game. In the first, Casey Worden (UC Riverside) hit a RBI single. In the second, Turner Buis (Cal State Fullerton) walked with the bases loaded to make the score 2-0.
The Huskies put together five runs in the third, to take a 5-2 lead. Daniel Amaral (UCLA) hit an RBI single to get the inning started. Justin Ambrosino (West Florida) added a RBI double, and Carter Hanford (Jeff Co) added an RBI single.
The Honkers scored four runs in the bottom of the frame to take the lead. Jackson Thoreson (St. Mary’s) hit a solo home run, and then Miles Lewis (North Dakota) added a sacrifice fly. Buis hit a two-RBI single to give the Honkers a 6-5 lead.
The Huskies scored two runs in the fourth to take the lead, and then got a solo home run from Reid Long (Troy) to push their lead to 8-6.
In the seventh, the Huskies scored two runs, but the Honkers came back with two runs of their own on a Keaton Weisz (Auburn) RBI single. The Honkers took advantage of an error on the play to push their second run of the inning across, to cut the lead to 10-8.
Duluth struck back with three runs in the eighth, giving them a 13-8 win.
Max Gamboa (Pepperdine) got the start for the Honkers; he pitched 2.1 innings, allowed three runs on three hits and walked two. Robert Paccione (LIU – Post) took the loss for the Honkers; he pitched one inning, allowed one run on one hit and walked one. Sam Bjorngjeld (Tulane), Tanner Schumacher (Purdue), Weisz and Drew Ellis (Louisville) all contributed on the mound.
Alex Ferguson (Minnesota Duluth) got the start for the Huskies; he pitched 2.1 innings, allowed six runs on seven hits and walked four. David Kroger (1-0) (St. Cloud State) got the win for the Huskies; he pitched 4.2 innings, allowed two runs on three hits, walked three and struck out one.
Jacob Thomas (UC Davis) went 3 for 5 with two runs scored to lead the Honkers’ offense, while Buis went 2 for 3 with three RBI to help the offense.
Amaral went 5 for 5 with two RBI and three runs scored to lead the Huskies offense.
The Honkers fall to 7-26 with the loss, and the Huskies move to 18-16.
Tomorrow, the Honkers are in Waterloo to finish off a suspended game on June 14. The game is in the top of the ninth, and the Honkers trail the Bucks 3-2 with nobody out. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. A full nine-inning game will be played after the suspended game is finished. The Honkers are back at home Tuesday to play the Waterloo Bucks on Tuesday.