Larks use exactly one run in eight of nine innings to top the Express in the first game of the eight game road trip.

EAU CLAIRE, WI – The Larks got a taste of a win streak and decided that they wanted to come back for more.

In the series opener, the Bismarck Larks defeated the Eau Claire Express by a final score of 8-6 extending their first win streak of the 2017 season to three games.

Another streak grew as the Larks (6-5) scored in the first inning for the fourth consecutive game. Scooter Bynum (Northern Illinois University) lead off the game sending the first pitch he saw into centerfield for a single advancing to second on an error by the right fielder Dominic Clementi (University of Michigan).

Noah Sadler would make the Express (4-7) pay as he lined a single to right field to score Bynum and record his seventh RBI of the season. The Larks would score just one run in the top of the first.

This happened to be a foreshadow of what was to come throughout the rest of the game. The Larks would continue to tack on runs scoring exactly one run in eight of the nine innings of play. They ended up needed nearly every single one of them.

In the top of the second, David Salguiero used his speed to manufacture a run. Salguiero would steal second and then third as he drew a poor throw from Express catcher Taylor Field that ended up in left field. Salgueiro raced home scoring his sixth run of the season making it a 2-0 game.

After the Larks added three more runs and the Express got one of their own, the score stood at 5-1 entering the bottom of the sixth inning.

Larks starter Tyler Steele was chased out of the game after giving up a leadoff single to Rudy Rott (Ohio University) and walking the very next batter in Daniel Jones. Mitch Cavanagh would come in relief for Steele striking out the side to avoid further damage after giving up two hits and three runs.

Momentum was on the Express side as they had brought themselves within one run at 5-4.

It turns out this was short lived.

In the very next inning, the Larks would add yet another one run inning to claim a two run cushion. Michael Pereznegron, who reached via a fielder’s choice, was brought home on a Bynum RBI sacrifice fly to make the score 6-4.

The Larks continued to pad their lead with an RBI single by Pereznegron in the seventh and an RBI single by Newt Johnson in the eighth. For the second consecutive night, Trenton Stoltz worked a clean seventh and eighth inning to keep the Express at bay.

However, in this game the Larks did not turn to Jeff Lindgren to close the door with the score standing at 8-4. The Larks chose to keep Stoltz in in hopes of recording the rare three inning save.

The Express refused to go away quietly as they forced Stoltz out of the game, scored a run, and loaded the bases causing Nick Boyles to come on in relief as the Larks fourth pitcher of the night.

Boyles would give up an RBI sacrifice fly coming off the bat of Pete McEvoy as the Larks were content with exchanging a run for the second out of the inning. Boyles proceeded by walking the next batter in Clementi to load the bases and move the game tying run into scoring position.

The Express couldn’t have asked for a better guy to come up to the plate as Field, who was 2-2 with 3 RBI at the time, stepped up. Boyles was able to bear down and record his first save as a Lark getting Field to ground out softly on the 1-3 putout.

The birds of Bismarck both battled and wiggled their way to a 8-6 victory over the Express. Larks hitters worked 11 walks against Express pitching. Larks pitchers were able to leave 12 Express baserunners as they got out of a bases-loaded jam two separate times in the ballgame.

The Larks look to extend their win streak to four games as they take on the Express for the series finale at Carson Park.

Catch the Larks on mixlr.com/larksbaseball with the first pitch set for 6:35pm.

# # #

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