The Duluth Huskies (19-21) came back and beat the Eau Claire Express (27-12) Saturday night at Wade Stadium.
The Huskies fell behind early when the Express scored 5 runs in the top of the 1st inning off starter Payton Robinson, chasing him from the game. The Huskies continued to battle and were finally able to break through in the bottom of the 3rd when Dillon Paulson singled to score Matt Brown and Brendan McClary. The Huskies cut into the Express lead further in the bottom of the 4th when Brown doubled to score Mitch Reeves. Later in the inning, Liam Sabino hit a double of his own to score Brown.
The 6th inning saw a lot of runs but no change in the scoring gap with each team posting 3 runs. The first run for the Huskies was recorded by Brown who scored on a balk. Two batters later Dillon Paulson walked with the bases loaded to score McClary. The next batter, Jake Pries, singled to score Sabino.
The score remained 8-7 Express until the bottom of the 8th inning when Sabino scored on a passed ball to tie the game.
With the game knotted at 8 heading into the bottom of the 9th inning, all eyes fell on the Huskies offense and the Express defense. Carter Hanford led off the inning with a ground ball to the shortstop for the first out. The next batter, Reeves, got aboard after his infield popup was dropped and stole second a few pitches later. Brown followed with a walk to put runners on 1st and 2nd. McClary followed with a single to shallow right field to load the bases. After a strikeout, shortstop Casey Moses walked the Express off with a single to right—his first hit in a Huskies uniform.
Robinson got the start for the Huskies and went 1.0 inning allowing 5 runs on 3 hits walking 3 batters and striking out 1. Robinson was replaced by Trevino Rodriguez. Rodriguez tossed 4.1 innings allowing 3 runs on 4 hits walking 2 and striking out 1. Wade Regas was the third pitcher of the night for the Huskies. He tossed 1.2 innings allowing 0 runs on 2 hits striking out 1. Quentin Longrie pitched the final 2 innings for the Huskies and earned the win. He allowed 0 runs on 3 hits walking 1 and striking out 3.
The Huskies are on the road Sunday and Monday to take on the Mankato MoonDogs. They return home Tuesday to battle the La Crosse Loggers. First pitch from Wade Stadium is scheduled for 6:35 Tuesday night.
Tuesday is St. Patties Day in July! Fans receive discounted ticket prices if they come to the game dressed in all green. In addition, fans can enjoy $3 green beer specials. For more information, contact the Duluth Huskies front office at 218-786-9909 or huskies@duluthhuskies.com