The Rochester Honkers and St. Cloud Rox took turns pounding the baseball and each other in a Northwoods League college doubleheader Saturday night at Mayo Field.
St. Cloud smashed four home runs in a 10-2 win in the first seven-inning game, and Rochester returned the favor with an 11-2 win in the nightcap.
St. Cloud (9-3) maintained a 1 1/2-game lead over Rochester (7-4) and Alexandria (7-4) in the North Division second half.
The night began with a crowd of 1,148, although there weren't that many when the second game ended at 11:20 p.m.
St. Cloud set the tone early in the first game with a three-run homer in the first inning from Joe Tietjen (UNC Nashville), after the first two Rox batters reached base on walks from Rochester starter Tyler Feyereisen (St. Thomas).
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The Rox also had three-run innings in the fourth and sixth and scored nine of 10 runs on homers. John Sansone (Florida State), Michael Strem (Boston College) and Webb Bobo (SE Louisiana) also homered for St. Cloud which finished with 12 hits, six for extra bases.
Rochester returned the favor in the second game, although not until after St. Cloud had built a 2-0 lead in the second on a two-run homer by Brandon Benson (Georgia College).
The Honkers rallied at the end with four runs in the fourth, five more in the fifth and two in the sixth. Rochester finished with 12 hits, led by Ryan Webberley (Cal Poly Pomona) who was 3-for-3 with a double, three runs and one RBI. He raised his batting average to a team-high .366.
Spencer Greer (Dixie State) pitched just 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for his second win. The 6-foot-5 right-hander has a 0.80 ERA in 22 1/3 innings of relief.
Rox 10, Honkers 2
First game
Rochester #000#000#2#—#2#7#0
St. Cloud #300#313#x#—#10#12#0
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Rochester Honkers: Webberley 2-for-4; DeRoche-Duffin 1-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI; Grover 1-for-4; Schreiber 2-for-3, 1 R; Walton 1-for-3; Summers 0-for-2, 1 R. Pitchers: Feyereisen (L,2-2) 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; Shackleford 4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K; Delgado 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
St. Cloud Rox: Farr 1-for-3, 12B, 1 R; Pope 2-for-3, 1 2B, 3 R; Tietjen 2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 4 RBI; Athmann 1-for-2, 1 R; Sansone 1-for-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI; Miller 2-for-4; Strem 2-for-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI; Bobo 1-for-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI. Pitchers: Gilbreath (W,3-0) 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K; Martinez 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
LOB: Rochester 8, St. Cloud 6. Time: 2:09.
Honkers 11, Rox 2
Second game
St. Cloud #020#000#0#—#2#6#4
Rochester #000#452#x#—#11#12#0
St. Cloud Rox: Farr 1-for-4; Bobo 1-for-3; Athmann 1-for-3; Strem 2-for-3, 1 R; Benson 1-for-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI. Pitchers: Farish (L,1-2) 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K; Glowicki 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K; Strall 0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K; Kokora 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; Caspersen 1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
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Rochester Honkers: Schultz 1-for-3, 1 2B, 2 R; Webberley 3-for-3, 1 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI; DeRoche-Duffin 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI; Contreras 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI; Heggen 2-for-3, 1 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI; Walton 1-for-4, 2 RBI; Paschal 1-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI; Mastrobouni 1-for-2, 1 RBI. Pitchers: Walker 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K; Greer (W,2-1) 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Duester 1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K.
LOB: St. Cloud 5, Rochester 5. Time: 2:20. Attendance: 1,148.
