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Eau Claire, WI – After coughing up a three-run lead in the top of the eighth, the Express (15-21) were hit with a knockout punch in the tenth to drop Tuesday night’s game 5-4 to the Thunder Bay Border Cats (13-22).
Up 4-1 in the eighth, Eau Claire called upon reliever Austin George (1-2) to get through one more frame before handing things off to closer Victor Chavez (1-0). Unfortunately, George went through a nightmare of an inning, surrendering three runs on three hits and walk to allow Thunder Bay to tie the ballgame.
After Chavez navigated the ninth to send us to extra innings, 2016 returner Kenny Ogg (0-1) was tasked with handling the top of the tenth in his first appearance of the season with the Express. The Ohio product would eventually allow the winning-run to cross the plate on a single by Border Cats third baseman Brendan Dougherty.
Thunder Bay’s Evan Johnson would then toss a clean bottom of the ninth for Thunder Bay to seal their 5-4 win.
Starting pitcher Lane Ramsey (0-2) would walk away with the Marshfield Clinic Player of the Game award after allowing just one run on one hit through six innings or work. The 6’8 righty trudged through some control issues (he walked four batters on the night) to put together an outing worthy of a win, striking out seven and limiting the opposition’s hard contact to a minimum.
The Express will be back at Carson Park tomorrow to take on the La Crosse Loggers for the second time this year. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM, with Luke Eldred (1-1) set to start the night on the mound for Eau Claire. In 24 innings pitched for Eau Claire this season, Eldred has walked just one batter, while running an ERA of 4.12.
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.