Larks score in the first inning for the fifth consecutive game en route to second consecutive sweep.
EAU CLAIRE, WI – The old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don't fix it.” Well, for the Larks, it ain’t broke and they aren’t trying to fix it.
The Bismarck Larks defeated the Eau Claire Express by a final tally of 5-2 extending their longest win streak of the season to four games.
The recipe for the Larks (7-5) recent success has been early scoring. The Larks scored two runs right out of the gates thanks to a pair of RBI singles from Newt Johnson and Noah Sadler.
The team has now scored at least one run in the first inning of five straight games finding themselves with a 4-1 record throughout that span.
Micah Beyer got off on the right foot in his second start as a Lark with four shutout innings. Although zeroes were the final result of the first four innings for Beyer, he had to work for it.
After Beyer left on two Express (4-8) baserunners in the top of the first, a scary moment happened in the bottom of the second when Beyer took a line drive to the chest off the bat of Dominic Clementi. Beyer would rally and end up staying in the ballgame.
Clementi reached on the line-drive single, but the very next Express batter Robby Campillo (University of New Mexico) lined into a double play. Beyer would use three strikeouts across the next two innings to keep a 2-0 advantage over the Express heading into the bottom of the fifth.
The Express would cut the lead in half as Rudy Rott gathered one of his five hits in the series, a two-out RBI single scoring Brian Grove to make it 2-1.
It seems like whenever the Larks get scored on they take it personally and get a run right back in the very next inning. They would do that again tonight on two separate occasions.
Cullen Smith hit his first home run of the season sending a ball over the right field wall off Express starter Luke Eldred. This would be Eldred’s third and final run that he gave up finishing the night throwing six innings and striking out six hitters.
After the Express responded with one more run in the bottom of the sixth, the Larks would extend their lead yet again with an RBI walk by Scooter Bynum scoring Wyatt Ulrich making the score 4-2.
The Larks ended up adding another run in the top of the eighth off a throwing error by Express shortstop Pete McEvoy. The one run eighth inning marked the 11th inning in the series where the Larks scored exactly one run.
Connor Hilburn and Noah Luedtke stood firm out of the Larks bullpen throwing a combined three innings of scoreless baseball. Hilburn threw two innings to earn the hold and Luedtke pitched the ninth stranding two baserunners to earn his first save as a Lark.
Micah Beyer’s night was over after six innings where he allowed seven hits and two earned runs in the midst of his second consecutive seven strikeout performance.
The Express stranded nine more runners tonight taking the series total to 21 as they stranded an additional 12 baserunners last night. Larks pitchers were able to get pivotal outs in pivotal situations throughout both tonight and last night.
The winning pitcher in tonight’s game was Micah Beyer (1-0) and the losing pitcher was Luke Eldred (0-1). Noah Luedtke (1) was the third consecutive pitcher to earn his first save in the last three games.
The road trip continues as the Larks take on the Rochester Honkers for the first time in team history in a 1:05pm Sunday matinee showdown.
Tune in on mixlr.com/larksbaseball for the live broadcast.
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The Bismarck Larks are apart of the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 170 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play
