La Crosse 3 – Wisconsin 2

The La Crosse Loggers improved their record to 3-2 Wednesday night in Copeland Park as they beat the Wisconsin Woodchucks 4-1 in front of 2,788 fans. La Crosse struck early with a two run home run by Boomer Collins in the bottom of the second but these would be the only runs scored until the sixth inning in what turned into a pitchers duel. Loggers starting pitcher Logan Munson (UNC) pitched six innings only allowing two hits and striking out three while holding Wisconsin scoreless.  Loggers catcher Rob Brantly (UC-Riverside) broke the scoring drought in the sixth inning with a lead off home run to extend La Crosse’s lead to 3-0.  Ben Long (UW-Milwaukee) of the Woodchucks would not allow La Crosse to shut them out though as he led off the top of the seventh with a home run of his own.  La Crosse would pick up an insurance run in the eighth inning when Chris Engell (San Diego) scored on a wild pitch which would draw an end to the scoring and ensure a Loggers victory. The star offensively for the Loggers was Rob Brantly (UC-Riverside) who went 3-4 with two doubles and a home run. Boomer Collins hit his second home run in the past three games.  Making his first start for the Loggers was pitcher Logan Munson who looked very impressive in his six innings of work to move his record to 1-0.

Alexandria 8 – Brainerd 5

Curtis Hudson (Elgin CC) made his home debut on Wednesday, and although he didn’t factor in the final desicion, his outing was good enough to hold off the Lunkers for an 8-5 win. Tyler McKendree (Flagler) picked up the victory, going two innings in relief.  But after giving up a homerun and single in the ninth, it was Matt Miller (Michigan) coming on for his fourth save of the season. Joey Van Cleave (Santa Rosa J.C.) took the loss and is now 0-5. After going seven up and seven down to start the game, Brainerd struck first with a two-out rally in the third.  A single and walk put two runners on for T.J. Berge (Northern Colorado) launched his first homerun of the season. But the Beetles had an answer, plating three of their own in the home-half of the inning.  On the first pitch of the frame, Chase Porch hit his first homer of the year, a solo blast to center field.  Marcus Semien (Cal-Berkeley) followed with a double, and after a Mikel Alvarez (FGCU) bunt single, Tim Roberson (FGCU) hit his first of two RBI doubles on the night. In the fourth, Alexandria took their first lead of the night on a Semien sacrifice fly. However, Brainerd responded with the tying run in the sixth and nearly recaptured the lead, but Mike Kvasnicka (Minnesota) was caught stealing home, ending the inning. After the Lunkers dipped into their bullpen for the third time, it was the Beetles delivering the final blow.  A Sean Olenek RBI fielder’s choice brought in the go-ahead run in the seventh, and a three-run outburst in the eighth secured the win. Brainerd would mount one final push in the ninth, but Matt Miller got pinch-hitter Michael Gedman (UMass) to pop up to Semien to end the game. The win brings the Beetles to a record of 23-16 and a second half record of 3-2.  The Lunkers fall to 2-3 in the second half and 18-20 overall.

Rochester 2 – Green Bay 1 (10 Inn.)

The Honkers were held to just three hits and no runs until the eighth inning by Green Bay on Wednesday night, but scored an unearned run in the eighth and another in the tenth inning to earn a 2-1 walk-off victory in the series opener. Nick Ramirez (Cal State Fullerton) got his first win of the year, pitching two shutout innings of relief with four strikeouts and Aaron Dunsmore (Dayton) won the game with an RBI single in the tenth and Aaron Johnson (Illinois) scored both runs for the Honkers. With the run Rochester is now 5-1 in the second half while Green Bay falls to 2-3. Both starters pitched at their best early as Drew Gagnon (Long Beach State) for Rochester and Joel Delorit (UW Stevens Point) for Green Bay cruised through the first part of the game. Delorit pitched seven shutout innings allowing just three hits while Gagnon allowed only a solo home run by Riley Henricks (Portland) in the fourth inning in his 6.1 frames of three-hit ball, striking out seven and walking none. But both starters would take no decisions, and the game was decided late. Johnson pushed a one-out single through the infield in the ninth and stole second before William Arnold (Central Michigan) bounced an infield single that the Bullfrogs’ shortstop threw away allowing Arnold to take second and, more important, Johnson to come all the way home to tie the game at 1-1. In the ninth the Honkers turned to Ramirez to relieve Scott McGough (Oregon), and he shut down the Bullfrogs the next two innings to set up the winning hit in the bottom of the tenth. Johnson started things off again, laying down a bunt that was thrown away by the third baseman and allowing Johnson to reach on the error and go all the way to second. He moved to third when Arnold singled behind him, and came home with the winning run when Dunsmore lined a base-hit through the right side one batter later. Ramirez earned the win to go to 1-1 while the loss went to Steve Crnkovich (Tennessee) who allowed an unearned run in 1.1 innings of relief to fall to 0-2. Johnson was 1-for-3 for Rochester and scored both runs, while Dunsmore went 1-for-2 and picked up the only RBI for the Honkers. Henricks paced the Green Bay offense, going 2-for-4 with the solo home run to account for the team’s only run.

Thunder Bay 7 – Eau Claire 0

Randy Mower (St. Joseph’s) pitched eight shutout innings as Thunder Bay blanked Eau Claire 7-0 dropping the first half South Division champion Express to 0-6. Mower evened his record to 3-3 allowing just five hits, while walking two and striking out four.  Curtis Wagner (Santa Clara) hit his second home run, a two shot as the Border Cats improved to 4-1.  Derek Hamblen (Belmont) went 3-3 for Thunder Bay and Eli Tupuola (Viterbo) drove in four runs with a two-run single and a pair of sacrifice flies. Nolan Fadness (UW-Oshkosh) went 2-4 for Eau Claire.  Joseph Lopez (South Mountain CC) took the loss to drop to 2-2.  Lopez gave up six runs and seven hits over 4.1 innings.

Battle Creek 4 – Waterloo 3

The Battle Creek Bombers got the best of the Waterloo Bucks in a defensive showdown tonight, winning by the final 4-3. Neither team was able to score multiple runs in an inning, although they did not lack the opportunity to do so. Waterloo stranded 10 men, six of them in scoring position. The Bombers left seven men on base, five in scoring position. The Bucks jumped out to a quick start, scoring in the first inning on a double to right by first baseman Michael Giller (Illinois). However, the Bombers responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. The Bucks again took the lead in the fifth, moving Zach McCool (Iowa) around the bases with a sacrifice bunt and a single to left-center. However, the Bombers always had an answer to the Bucks’ offense. In the bottom half of the fifth, Josh Valle (Marshall) hit a two-out double to right to plate Chris Lewis (Western Michigan), knotting the game up at 2-2. The Bombers would take the lead in the sixth inning. Shortstop Greg Fujii (San Jose City College) got things started with a ground-rule double, and scored on a two-out single to right off the bat of Joe Van Meter (VCU). The Bombers would tack on another run in the seventh. Pinch hitter Matt Miraldi (Cal State LA) led the inning off with a double, and Chris Lewis followed that up with an RBI single to left. The Bucks would threaten in the eighth, as Zach McCool cut the gap to one with a two-out RBI single. However, the Bombers brought in closer R.J. Hively (Cal State Fullerton), who squashed the threat with a strikeout. Hively would then pitch a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his eighth save of the season. Right fielder Chris Lewis (Western Michigan) was the Bombers’ offensive star yet again. Lewis went 2-for-3 on the night, with a walk, two runs scored, and one RBI. Lewis bumped his league-leading average up to .377, and now holds a Bombers record for most RBI in a season (32).

Madison 3 – Duluth 2

The Duluth Huskies (2-3) came up just short on Wednesday losing to the Madison Mallards (4-1) 3-2.  The Huskies tried to rally in the bottom of the 9th scoring 1 run, but couldn’t get the tying run across the plate leaving runners on 1st and 3rd.  Huskies starting pitcher Sean Yost (Nebraska) went 8 innings giving up 3 runs on 8 hits.  Scott Sommerfeld (Parkway South HS) went 2 for 4, and Pete Cappetta (Illinois) went 1 for 3 with a double. Madison’s starting pitcher J.R. Graham (Livermore) got the victory going 6 innings giving up 0 runs on 1 hit.  Jacob Esch (Georgia Tech) and Jerrud Sabourin (Indiana) both went 2 for 4 on the night leading Madison.