La Crosse, WI- The Express (6-6 Second Half, 21-27 Overall) entered Sunday night’s contest with the Loggers (4-8 Second Half, 18-28 Overall) looking to start the three-day break on a high note, and accomplished just that by outlasting La Crosse by a score of 5-4.
All nine runs of this ballgame were brought in over the course of the first five innings, meaning the Eau Claire bullpen was asked to hold down a one-run lead through the final four frames.
Relievers Josh Gaworski (Century CC). Craig Colen (Cal Poly) and Victor Chavez (Scottsdale CC) combined to toss four shutout innings after starter Lane Ramsey (Oklahoma) (1-2) was pulled to begin the sixth. The trio of Express relief-men allowed just four hits while striking out just as many, with Chavez locking down his team leading sixth save of the year.
Before the ‘pen was asked to take over, Ramsey put up a solid outing on the way to earning his first win of 2017. The 6’8 right-hander struck out one and walked four, but was responsible for just two of the four runs that crossed the plate during his five frames on the bump.
For the second consecutive night, Eau Claire’s offense was lead by outfielder Zach Ashford (Fresno State) whom scored two runs and drove in another on a 2-4 day at the plate. Ashford was also the man to score the deciding run of the ballgame in the fifth, when he came home on a groundout by catcher Robby Campillo (New Mexico).
The Express will be off until July 20th, when they will return to La Crosse to face the Loggers at 7:05 PM. The two teams will then head to Eau Claire the following day for a 7:05 PM matchup at Carson Park.
The Northwoods League All-Star Game will be taking place on July 18th at 5:00 PM in Wausau, WI. Eau Claire will be represented by closer Victor Chavez (Scottsdale CC) and outfielder Zach Gilles (Central Michigan) who will both be suiting up for the North Division.
###
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 180 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.