ROCHESTER, Minn. — The La Crosse Loggers scored six runs in the first four innings on the way to a 7-5 victory over the Rochester Honkers on Sunday at Mayo Field.
The Loggers scored three runs in the top of the fifth for a 6-3 lead and countered a seventh-inning Rochester run with one of their own in the top of the ninth.
First baseman David Villar (South Florida) doubled, homered, and drove in five runs as La Crosse won its third game in a row after losing an 11-inning game at Thunder Bay on Thursday.
Peter Hamot (Lewis) allowed three hits and three earned runs over six inning to earn the pitching victory for La Crosse. Grant Ford (Nevada) picked up the save by getting the final out with a Rochester runner at first base.
A quick start gave the Loggers a 2-0 lead after the top of the first inning. Villar made Rochester pay for a walk by drilling a 2-1 pitch over the wall for his 12th homerun of the season.
La Crosse needed those runs after Rochester answered with three of its own against Hamot in the bottom of the first.
The Loggers extended the lead when Cameron Blake (Texas A&M) singled home Nate Heili (UWL) with two outs in the fourth and by scoring three times with the aid of four hits in the fifth.
Villar’s two-run double was the big hit of the fifth, and Jeremy Ydens (UCLA) followed it up with an RBI single to bring Villar around. Villar recorded his fifth RBI of the game and 47th of the summer with a sacrifice fly to score Blake in the top of the ninth.
The Lumbermen now return home on Monday to host the Bismark Larks in the first of a two-game set. Gates open at 6 on Baseball Card Night, presented by Gatorade, with the first 1,000 fans receiving a 2017 team set of Loggers Baseball Cards. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
