The Duluth Huskies (8-9) trailed the Eau Claire Express (5-11) on Friday in the first game of their road trip 2-1 in the fifth inning in a game postponed due to rain.
The Huskies sent Ryan Cunningham (1-1, 0.54) to the mound against Eau Claire. He surrendered two runs in the first but was lights out through the rest of his outing, surrendering five hits and striking out two through four innings. Eau Claire countered with Riley Johnson (0-1, 6.94) who turned in a stellar bounce-back performance. The freshman gave up just one run on two hits through 4.1 innings pitched while striking out three Huskies.
The bats were hot early in Eau Claire as the Huskies struck first on a Luke Roskam double off the wall in center field to bring home Isaac Collins. Roskam has now hit safely in seven of his eight games as a Husky since being called up on June 9th.
Eau Claire would not be outdone, however. With one out in the bottom of the first, Ryan Cunningham surrendered a rare run off the bat of Luke Bandy. It was a two-run shot that also scored shortstop Justin Evans.
That was all she wrote as far as offense. Bandy registered another hit in the third inning while Matt Frazier continued his hot streak with a base hit.
The rest of the game will be played Sunday, June 25th, followed by the scheduled game against the Express. Instead of the second game being played to nine innings as normal, however, it will only be played to seven innings.
The Huskies continue their road trip Saturday with the first of a two-game series in Bismarck against the Larks.
