Duluth gets back in the win column in Game One; falls short of the sweep in Game Two
Duluth, Minn — The Duluth Huskies and the Eau Claire Express faced off Saturday night in a doubleheader after yesterday’s game was postponed due to rain.
Game One
The Duluth Huskies defeated the Eau Claire Express 5-4 in eight innings at Carson Park in the first game of a doubleheader. The doubleheader was a result of heavy rain postponing Friday’s scheduled game between these foes, being played in the form of two, seven-inning contests.
The Express scored one run in the first on an RBI single from Phillip Sikes before adding two more in the second following an RBI single from Garret Lake and another run being forced in after Troy Beilsmith was hit by a pitch.
A Lance Ford two-RBI double put the Huskies on the board in the top of the third inning as the University of Texas second basemen lined a ball down the left field line that drove in Nic Kent and Noah Marcelo.
The Huskies added their third run of the game in the top of the fifth as a two-out Tyler Lozano single drove in James Free II. Eau Claire added one more in the bottom half of the fifth before the Huskies tied the ballgame at four following a Nic Kent RBI single.
The tie ballgame would extend into an eighth inning, where an Aaron Greenfield RBI single gave the Huskies the lead for good.
Dane Morrow had the start for Duluth and gave up four earned runs over 4 2/3 innings. Dan Hansen relieved Morrow in the fifth and proceeded to throw two and a third innings of scoreless baseball. Jonathan Pierce got the win after shutting down the Express in the eighth inning to secure the Huskies victory.
Eau Claire ended the game with 8 hits off of Huskies’ pitching, while the Huskies compiled 9 hits in the win.
Game Two
The nightcap of the doubleheader brought the same energy and competitiveness as Game one, but the Huskies fell 7-6 in eight innings in Game Two. Duluth took a significant lead in the fourth inning but couldn’t hold the advantage and eventually went into extra innings.
The Huskies grabbed a big lead with four runs in the fourth inning, which turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead. It started with a two-out rally that began with a pair of walks. Then, Preston Hartsell tied it up with an RBI double to score Justin Moore.
Aaron Greenfield gave the Huskies the lead with a two-run single in the next at-bat. A Carter Putz bases-loaded walk would bring in one more to wrap up the scoring in the fourth. Duluth would not score another run until extras.
The Express stormed back in the bottom half of the inning with two of their own on a pair of RBI singles from Sam Stonskas and Spencer Myers. Eau Claire tied the game on a Matt Botcher RBI Sacrifice Fly in the sixth inning.
More free baseball came after neither team scored in the seventh. The Huskies took the lead in the top half of the eighth inning when Ramon Enriquez scored from third on a wild pitch. However, the wheels came off the track for the Huskies after that.
The tying run came in for Eau Claire on a throwing by Nic Kent with runners on the corners and nobody out to tie it at six runs apiece. Three batters later, Matt Bottcher drew a game-winning bases-loaded walk that gave the Express a 7-6 walk-off victory to split the doubleheader.
The Huskies ultimately split the doubleheader and the weekend series with the Express. The overall season series is also even at two wins apiece. Philip Sikes got the win for Eau Claire in four and a third innings out of the bullpen, allowing only one unearned run. Jonathan Pierce took the loss after a game one victory. Pierce allowed two runs, both unearned, in the eighth inning.
The Huskies wrap up the three-game road trip in St. Cloud Sunday on Father’s Day before returning home to Wade Stadium to face St. Cloud and Bismarck. First Pitch Sunday is at 4:05 CST with live game coverage on 92.1 the Fan and twinportssportshub.com beginning at 3:55 CST.
Be sure to follow the Duluth Huskies on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat all season long and check out duluthhuskies.com for tickets to upcoming games. For more in-depth news on the Huskies, be sure to follow @XtraInningsWithRyne and @JoeChatzHuskies on Facebook.
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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 22 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 200 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.