Eau Claire 6, Wisconsin Rapids 3
Eau Claire 4, Wisconsin Rapids 3
The Eau Claire Express took game one of the double header by a score of 6-3 over the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. The Express used a three run homer from Steve McGuiggan (Illinois Chicago) to fuel their offense. Josh Scheffert (Nebraska) earned the win in relief throwing 1.0 inning while giving up one hit and no runs. The Rafters Dan Johnson (Rhode Island) took the loss while only throwing 0.2 innings and giving up three runs on two hits.
The Express also took game two of the double header by a score of 4-3. The Rafters tied up the game at 3-3 in the 7th, but the Express came back again and scored a run in the bottom of the 7th. Three Express hitters had multi-hit games with Andrew Leonard (Illinois Chicago) leading the way going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Evan Zerff (Long Island) earned the win by throwing a scoreless inning. Rafter’s third basemen Brian Embery (Wayland Baptist) was 2-for-3 in the loss.
Eau Claire is now one win away from clinching the first half division title in the South. They host Green Bay the next two nights.
Rochester 7, St. Cloud 2
Rochester 7, St. Cloud 4 (8 innings)
The Rochester Honkers took game one of a double header against the St. Cloud River Bats by the score of 7-2. Anthony Hutting (Cal St. Fullerton) blasted a grand slam in the top of the sixth inning to give Rochester a 7-2 lead. Hutting finished the night 2-for-4 with the big home run, a double and five RBI. Devin Thaut (Paradise Valley CC) and Matt Dittman (Illinois) each recorded two hits in the victory. Sean Martin (San Jose State) earned the win for the Honkers pitching six innings in relief. Martin shut down the River Bats offense surrendering just one run off five hits whiling striking out five.
Rochester clinched the North Division first half title with an exciting come-from-behind victory in game two of the doubleheader. Trailing by two runs in the 7th, the final scheduled inning, the Honkers tied the score and then put up three runs in the 8th to seal the victory. Ian Kadish (Marshall) pitched 2.1 scoreless inning to earn the win in relief. Jimmy Waters (Kansas) drove in two runs to help secure the victory.
Waterloo 3, Battle Creek 0
Battle Creek 9, Waterloo 3
The Waterloo Bucks Taylor Massey (Dallas Baptist) improved his record to 4-0 on the season with a great game over the Battle Creek Bombers. Massey threw a complete game two hitter while giving up no runs. Bucks left fielder Pat Stover (Santa Clara) was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. The Bombers Anthony Sambula took the loss throwing 5.1 innings while giving up three runs on seven hits.
In game two, the Battle Creek Bombers bounced back and beat the Bucks 9-3 in front of 2,005 fans. Battle Creek came out hot with a five run first inning and a three run third to go up 8-1. Bombers lead-off hitter Sean Deegan (Penn State) was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI. Starter Kendall Thamm (Angelina) earned the win throwing 3.2 innings of five hit baseball while only giving up two runs.
Alexandria 8, Willmar 7
The Stingers dropped a tough one to the Beetles on Tuesday at Knute Nelson Memorial Park in Alexandria, losing on a Marcus Semien (California Berkeley) walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. After rallying for four runs in the eighth, the Stingers gave up two runs in the bottom of the inning to drop into a 7-7 tie before Alexandria struck for the game-winning run in the ninth. The biggest hit of the night went to Jared Norris (Oregon State) who hit a towering three run shot to right field as a pinch hitter in the eighth, his first of the year. Carter Bell (Oregon State) and Joe Sever (Pepperdine) also had big nights, each going three for five with Bell notching his first hits of the season.
Thunder Bay 6, Duluth 5
Thunder Bay used a four run seventh inning to come from behind for the win Tuesday night. The Border Cats Ken Battiston (Eastern Michigan) was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Catcher Will Thorp (Lewis-Clark State) also had a three hit performance for the Border Cats. Zak Miller (New Mexico) earned the win in relief after throwing 3.0 innings of scoreless baseball.
Madison 7, La Crosse 0
The La Crosse Loggers saw their hopes of a first half South Division title come to an end on Tuesday night as they were defeated 7-0 by the Madison Mallards at Copeland Park. With Eau Claire winning earlier in the evening, the loss leaves the Loggers out of contention as the first half draws closer to an end. Mallards starting pitcher Matt LaMothe (Oakland) looked very impressive on the mound as he allowed no runs on just one hit in seven innings. He also struck out five Logger batters as he picked up his second win of the season. Leading the Mallards at the plate was Kyle Gaedele (Valparaiso) and Jacob Esch (Georgia Tech) who each finished the game with two hits. Collecting both of the Loggers hits was Cole Frenzel (Arizona) who finished 2-for-3 with a double.
Green Bay 13, Wisconsin 6
The Green Bay Bullfrogs are still in contention to win the first half division title after beating the Wisconsin Woodchucks. The Bullfrogs cruised to a 13-6 victory. Riley Tincher (UW-Whitewater) picked up the win for the Bullfrogs, tossing 6.0 innings and allowing three runs on eight hits. Tincher improved to 4-2 on the year. Troy Scott led the way for the Frogs at the plate going 2-for-3 with five RBI.
Mankato 2, Brainerd 1
The MoonDogs came from behind to beat the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers 2-1 in front of 845 fans. Mankato used a nice game from Trevor Adams who was 1-for-3 at the plate with a solo homerun. Reliever Joseph Lapkowicz earned the win out of the bullpen throwing 4.2 innings and giving up zero runs. Lunkers starter Patrick Nathanson (Florida Gulf Coast) took the loss throwing 5.0 innings and giving up two earned runs.
