Honkers Fall In Fourteen

The Honkers returned home Tuesday to face the Duluth Huskies. After yet another extra-inning game, this one lasting 14 frames, the Honkers lost 5-4.

The Honkers got some two-out hitting in the first inning and grabbed an early lead, as Connor Schaefbauer singled and Jeff Campbell launched a homer to left to make it 2-0.

Spencer Greer came into the game looking to get his fourth win to lead the team, but would add to the league-leading number of home runs given up by Rochester pitching. A solo shot by Dominic Brugnoni and a fourth inning, three-run homer made it 4-2 Huskies on the 31st home run allowed by Honkers hurlers.

Spencer Greer then left the game in the fifth inning due to an injury. Greer gave up four runs on five hits, and had three walks, three strikeouts, and one hit batsman. Blake Quinn came in to relieve and kept the Honkers out of further trouble through six.

The 4-2 score would hold until the bottom of the seventh. Duluth tried to go with pitching match-ups down the stretch, but it would come back to bite them. With three different pitchers used in the inning, the bases were loaded with two outs for Casey Fletcher to take a walk to score Ryan Boldt, who had gotten on with his second hit by pitch of the night. That made the score 4-3.

In the ninth, off the third pitcher of the inning, it was again Casey Fletcher driving in Ryan Boldt and it was again a run coming in with two out in the inning. Fletcher went 3-6 in the ballgame with two runs batted in. No more runs would score in the ninth and it was on to extras with a 4-4 score. Every run the Honkers scored came with two outs in the inning.

No runs scored again until the top of the 14th. Max Weinstein walked Austin Christensen to lead off the inning. Two batters later Christensen came in to score on a Michael Tinsley double to make it 5-4.

The score of 5-4 did not change, and Rochester has now dropped five straight games.

The Honkers will look to get back into the win column Wednesday in another match-up against Duluth at Mayo Field. Will Bamesberger is scheduled to throw the first pitch at 7:05 p.m.