Box Score

Express centerfielder Brady Burzynski said when the team gets a big homestand, it's a necessity to win all of those games. 

So far, so good, as Eau Claire won its fourth straight on this six-game homestand, this time coming via an 8-2 victory over the Alexandria Blue Anchors at Carson Park.

Eau Claire is now 6-2 on the year and atop the North Division in the Northwoods League.

"We expect to win every game at home, that’s how it should be," Burzynski said.

It was once again the little things leading to an Eau Claire win, and Burzynski was a big culprit of picking apart the Blue Anchors.

He went 2-for-5 out of the lead off spot, but he scored four runs and stole a base. The Express collected nine hits, eight of them singles, and reached base three times from walks and caused four Alexandria errors.

That offense was more than enough for Aron McRee and the light's out pitching staff. McRee earned the win by going six innings, allowing two runs and striking out five guys. 

“Aaron mixed it up really well," Field Manager Dale Varsho said. "He minimized his pitches a lot.”

Taylor Duree, in his first night in Eau Claire after going 2-3 with a 3.50 ERA with Eau Claire last summer, earned the save by going three scoreless innings and striking out four himself.

Offensively, Mike Barajas had two RBI and two hits while Tyler Jones, Tyler Hermann, Mike Porcaro and Brian Sicher also recorded one RBI apiece.

In the midst of this current four-game streak, Eau Claire hasn't allowed more than three runs in any contest and have won by scoring a lot of runs or grinding out wins. The bottom line is, all of them have been 'Ws.'

“A couple of nights, we’ve won by just a couple of runs and other nights we’ve won big," Burzynski said. "Every night, it seems the pitchers keep it low on the other half, and that’s huge.”

The Express will go for a third-straight sweep as they open up a two-game set with the Thunder Bay Border Cats tomorrow starting at 6:35 at Carson Park.