St. Cloud River Bats

The St. Cloud River Bats fell to 1-3 on the season after an 8-7 loss at Mankato Saturday night. St. Cloud was led by Korey Wacker going 4-5 with 2 runs scored and Connor Eppard was 3-5 with a run scored and 2 RBIs for the Bats. Tim Verthein allowed 1 earned run in 1 inning and takes the loss. The Bats will play at Mankato again at 6:05 tonight, pregame on AM 1390-the Fan at 5:35.

The St. Cloud River Bats earned their first win of the year beating Duluth 4-2 in their home opener at Joe Faber Field Friday night. Former Twin Gary Gaetti threw out the first pitch and signed autographs as the River Bats special guest. Third baseman Ronald Sucre went 2-3 with 2 runs scored and Korey Wacker was 1-3 with 2 RBIs for St. Cloud.

Former Twin 3rd baseman Gary Gaetti will be the special guest of the St. Cloud River Bats for their home opener tonight when they host Duluth at 7:05 p.m. Hear my interview with the four-time Gold Glove winner after the jump.

The River Bats lost 6-5 at Duluth Thursday night. A.J. Longoria hit K.C. Clabough with a pitch with the bases loaded in the 9th inning to end the game. St. Cloud committed 4 errors. Korey Wacker went 2-5 with 2 runs scored and Ronald Sucre drove in 2 runs for St. Cloud.

The St. Cloud River Bats lost 3-1 at Duluth in their 2011 season opener Wednesday night. Jeremy Banks drove in the lone River Bats' run with an RBI single in the 9th inning. St. Cloud managed just 5 hits. Andrew Urban allowed no hits, 2 walks and earned runs in 5 1/3 innings to take the loss for the Bats.

The St. Cloud River Bats embark on their 15th season in franchise history tonight when they play at Duluth against the Huskies at 7:05pm, pregame on AM 1390-the Fan at 6:35. River Bats owner/President Joel Sutherland said Tuesday they had 13 players here and expects the roster to be at 17 when they take the field tonight.

The St. Cloud River Bats held their first practice Monday in St. Joseph and 10 players were in attendance. River Bats owner/President Joel Sutherland expects 17 players in Duluth tomorrow night in their season opener. New field manager Jon Hansen was at the Bats' first practice Monday.

The St. Cloud River Bats announced Friday that pitching coach Jon Hansen will be their field manager for the 2011 season. He replaces Ben Quinto who told the Bats earlier this week he couldn't manage the team because of personal reasons. Hansen was hired to be the pitching coach and has been an assistant coach at Fort Scott Community College in Kansas. He pitched in the Northwoods League in 2005 with the Brainerd Blue Thunder. Hansen says "this is an amazing opportunity".

The St. Cloud River Bats are looking for a new field manager after Ben Quinto took them he won't be able to manage the team this summer due to personal reasons. Top assistant and former River Bats manager Matt Allison also won't be able to coach the Bats this summer. That leaves pitching coach Jon Hansen and assistant coach Anthony Espitia on the current staff.

The St. Cloud River Bats signed 2 St. Cloud State players to temporary contracts Sunday. The two are infielder Travis Cariveau and lefthanded pitcher Chris Kubitz. Cariveau is hitting .344 for SCSU this season and Kubitz is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 18 relief appearances for the Huskies this season.