(Note: Both games played tonight were shortened to seven innings)
Mankato, MN- After being handed a 14-0 blowout loss in game one, the Express (14-17) rallied late in game two, grabbing a win before tomorrow night’s rubber match with the Mankato MoonDogs (15-16).
Starting the first contest of the evening for Eau Claire was New Mexico right-hander Cody Dye (0-1), who had pitched well for the Express in relief up to this point the season, failing to surrender a hit in any of his four relief appearances with the team. However, Dye was buried by the hard-hitting Mankato offense early in game one, as they knocked the Eau Claire starter around for five runs on four doubles in the first inning. Exiting the game after the second inning, Dye's short outing finished with Eau Claire in an 8-0 hole.
The MoonDogs would go on to take game one by a landslide, shutting out the Express 14-0 and out-hitting Eau Claire 11-3.
Mankato would jump ahead early in the first frame once again to start game two, taking a two-run lead on a run-scoring fielder’s choice followed by an RBI-single from Christopher Schaffer.
The Express answered in the second when Dominic Clementi drove in Luke Bandy on a ground out to second base, just to see the MoonDogs pull away once more in the fourth on an RBI-single by Wells Davis to make it 3-1 as rain began to fall in droves at Franklin Rogers Park.
In the bottom of the fifth, (Game 2 was a re-schedule of a matchup between the two teams at Carson Park that was rained out on June 12th, making the Express the official home team for Thursday night) Eau Claire shrunk the lead to one run after Zach Gilles was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The next batter, Zach Ashford, would pop out to short for out number two to bring third baseman Kyle Marinconz up to the plate with a chance to tie the ballgame or even take the lead for the Express.
In clutch fashion, Marinconz lined the second pitch of the at-bat right up the middle to score Justin Evans and Cal Poly teammate Scott Ogrin, as Eau Claire took their first lead in either game of the evening.
Express starter Luke Eldred (1-1) pitched a scoreless sixth, before handing the ball to Victor Chavez for the seventh. Chavez worked himself into a bit of trouble, allowing two MoonDogs hitters to reach on a walk and a single. But with one out and runners on the corners, Chavez induced a 5-4-3 victory-sealing double play to tie the series at one win apiece.
Eau Claire and Mankato will finish up this three-game set tomorrow at 7:05 PM, with New Mexico starter Drew Gillespie (1-1) set to deliver the first pitch for the Express. Gillespie is coming off a five-inning win against Rochester in which he gave up three runs and struck out eight. Through 14 innings pitched this season with Eau Claire, Gillespie is running a 3.85 ERA with a 16/5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The Eau Claire Express are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate 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 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.eauclaireexpress.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Express as your favorite team.