Eau Claire, WI- Big Sticks lose a heartbreaker in the bottom of the 11th to fall to 3 and 2 on the season.
It was a back and forth game the entire night. It started with a 5 run 1st inning by the Express. After an error by Marcus Romero in right field scored two runs, Jake Busson would slam a home run to score three more. At the top of the second, Dane Jones would respond with a two-run homer of his own. The score would not change again till the 5th inning when three straight walks would score a run. Cooper Hill had a RBI ground out to score the next one. Dane Jones would have another clutch at bat, and score two runs on a double to left field. The Express put up two more runs thanks to a walk and sac fly to give them a 1 run lead entering the 6th.
In the 7th, the Sticks would string together a few singles and walks to score 4 runs and at the end of the inning, it would be a 10-8 ball game. Express would fire back again with another 4 run inning in the 8th, thanks to a sac fly and a three run double from George Bilecki. Just when many would have lost hope, Troy Berg and Evan Appelwick hit RBI singles to send the game into extra innings. The Sticks would open things up in the 11th innings with a Kaden Carpenter RBI single to score Quade Peters and a booming two-run home run by Appelwick to give the Sticks a three run lead. Unfortunately, that would not be enough. With a sac fly, a few walks, some timely hits, and the final dagger, a hit batter, the Express would win 16-15.
The performance of the pitching staff and the fielding in this game ending up being a key factors in this game. The pitchers combined for 15 walks, which helped the Express get 16 runs off of only 10 hits. The Sticks also shot themselves in the foot tonight with a season high of 6 errors, three alone by Troy Berg. Hopefully, they can turn it around tomorrow at 6:35 and get a revenge win against Eau Claire.
