Huskies Winning Streak Ends in Eau Claire
Late Errors Prove Costly for Duluth
The Duluth Huskies couldn’t overcome a series of late fielding miscues as their seven-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday, falling to Eau Claire 6-4 at Carson Park.
General McArthur led off the third inning with a single, stole second base and reached third on a wild pitch. Augie Isaacson drove him in with an RBI groundout. The Express responded with two runs in the home half to take the lead.
Eau Claire added another run in the bottom of the fifth when David LaManna drew a one-out walk and scored from first base when Andrew Pratt doubled. A lightning strike in the bottom of the sixth sent the game into a weather delay with Eau Claire leading 3-1 before play resumed an hour later.
Immediately out of the delay, Adam LaRock scored on a throwing error to give the Express a three-run lead. The Huskies rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh against the Eau Claire bullpen. Isaacson singled, Nick Sogard reached on error and Chris Gilbody walked to load the bases with one out. John Lagattuta brought in Isaacson with a single to right field, Sogard scored on a bases-loaded walk and Kyle Jacobsen drove in Gilbody with a fielder’s choice.
After a second lightning delay, Eau Claire retook the lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs and a runner at first base, Levi Shandrew appeared to strikeout Nate Thimjon for the third out of the inning. However, the pitch was nullified as a balk was called, advancing the runner to second base. Thimjon hit a ground ball to short on the next pitch but a throwing error allowed Thimjon to reach base while a run scored. Eau Claire added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Adam LaRock singled and later stole home after reaching third base due to a misplayed infield ground ball earlier in the inning.
The Huskies committed three errors on the contest; all three led to Eau Claire runs. The Huskies are now 14-6 and remain atop the North Division standings while Eau Claire moves to 6-14 on the season. Following Monday’s league-wide off day, the Huskies open a three-game home stand beginning Tuesday against La Crosse.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.duluthhuskies.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Huskies as your favorite team.
