Thunder Bay, Ont.- For the second time in his last three starts, Express (16-10 Second Half, 31-31 Overall) starter Luke Eldred (Dallas Baptist) was knocked around for five earned runs, as Eau Claire fell 12-8 to the Thunder Bay Border Cats (10-14 Second Half, 23-36 Overall) on Tuesday night.
Eldred lasted just five innings, surrendering a season-high 12 hits to the Border Cats in a no decision. As has become the norm for the 6’5 freshman, Eldred still pounded the zone for strikes, issuing just one walk over 26 batters faced on the night.
Relievers Alex Ogren (St Thomas) and Victor Chavez (Scottsdale CC) would also struggle to keep the Border Cats offense at bay, combining to allow seven earned runs on eight hits.
In his appearance with the team this season, Ogren struck out one and walked one while surrendering three runs in his only frame of work in the sixth. Chavez was asked to handle the eighth inning after pitching a scoreless seventh, and ended up submitting four Thunder Bay runs on two homers and a wild pitch.
While the pitching staff struggled as a collective unit, the Express offense put together an eight-run performance on 12 hits and eight walks. Designated hitter Luke Bandy (Dallas Baptist) easily had the most impressive line at the dish for Eau Claire in this one, reaching base in each of his five trips to the plate on a walk and four hits, including his 10th double of the year.
The Express head to Duluth tomorrow for the first round of a two-game home-and-home series with the Huskies (13-13 Second Half, 28-33 Overall) which is set to begin at 6:35 PM. Drew Gillespie (New Mexico) (3-3) will get the start for Eau Claire Wednesday evening after tossing seven shutout innings against the Waterloo Bucks in his last outing.
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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.