Honkers Score Early but Lose to Huskies in Duluth

(Rochester, Minn.) – The Rochester Honkers fell to the Duluth Huskies 5-3 in Duluth Wednesday night at Wade Stadium.

The Huskies scored three runs in the fourth to tie it, and followed up with a run in the fifth and sixth to take home the win.

The Honkers scored the first two runs of the game in the first inning. Joey Czarske (Cal State Northridge) hit into a double play that scored a run, to give the Honkers a 1-0 lead. Drew Ellis (Louisville) followed with a RBI single to make the score 2-0.

Kyle Kasser (Oregon) hit a RBI double in the second to score Josh Hauser (UT-Martin) and give the Honkers a 3-0 lead.

In the fourth, Reid Long (Troy) connected on a RBI double, which was followed by a two-run home run from Matt Brown (Jeff Co) to tie the game 3-3. The Huskies added another run in the fifth when Casey Moses (Texas Wesleyan) stole second base, and scored on a bad throw by Brett Harrison (North Dakota) to give the Huskies a 4-3 lead. In the sixth, Daniel Amaral (UCLA) hit an RBI single and gave the Huskies a 5-3 lead.

Robert Paccione (0-3) (LIU-Post) got the start for the Honkers; he went six innings, allowed five runs, four of them earned, on 11 hits, walked three and struck out four. Jackson Douglas pitched two innings of relief and allowed two hits and struck out one.

Corey Gaconi (3-3) (Southeastern Louisiana) got the start and the win for the Huskies; he went seven innings, allowed three runs on eight hits, walked one and struck out one.

Marcus Frederickson (Minnesota – Duluth) pitched one inning of relief; while Quentin Longrie (6) (Southern California) pitched the ninth to get his sixth save of the season.
Turner Buis (Cal State Fullerton) and Kasser each went 2-for-5 with a run scored to lead the Honkers, while Kasser added a RBI. Brown went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored to lead the Huskies offense.

With the loss the Honkers fell to 11-16 in the second half and 18-45 overall, while the Huskies advanced to 8-18 in the second half and 26-36 overall.

The Honkers will be back at home toniight to take on the Battle Creek Bombers for Team Trading Card Set Night presented by Pepsi and 106.9 KROC, where the first 1,000 fans will get a set of team trading cards. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. and gates open at 6.