Huskies and the Express split a two-game home series at Wade Stadium
Adam Cohen, cohena@allegheny.edu
Duluth, Minn. – The Duluth Huskies (17-25) fell early against the Eau Claire Express (17-25), who were able to hold off a five-run comeback. The Express took the second game of the series by a score of 10-6.
Starter Ben Gerl (0-1) lasted only one inning, giving up three hits, three runs (all earned), two walks, and no strikeouts in his Huskies debut. Gerl would have pitched in the second inning, but he was taken out because threw 35 pitches (according to the Northwoods League pitching guidelines, any pitcher who throws 35 pitches or more cannot pitch the following inning). Therefore, the bullpen tonight consisting of Nate Wohlgemuth, Brody Maynard, Matthew Craven, and Michael Sarhatt were asked to shoulder the load in relief.
Although the relievers provided some much-needed length, the command was not there tonight by Duluth pitching. In total, the Huskies issued twelve walks and three hit by pitches.
Still, the Huskies showed life, even after being down 3-0 heading into the bottom of the first. The Huskies pushed across a run in the bottom of the second, but after that, the offense did not pick up a hit for the rest of the game. Nevertheless, Duluth showed resilience and patience. Despite trailing 10-1, the Huskies scored their first four runs in the bottom of the 7th because of seven straight walks.
After the walks, Duluth had the bases loaded with no one out. Unfortunately, after a 6-3 double play and a groundout to end the inning, the Huskies were only able to push across one more run that frame, and did not score in the final two innings.
With the loss, the Huskies fell to 5-3, whereas the Express improved to 5-5 in the second half. The Huskies will begin a two-game series back at the Wade tomorrow at 6:35 PM.
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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27th 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, over 250 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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.