Eau Claire, WI- The Eau Claire Express (20-10 Second Half, 35-31 Overall) went down to the wire with the Thunder Bay Border Cats (12-17 Second Half, 25-39 Overall) at Carson Park on Sunday night, eventually coming out on top 5-3 to extend their winning-streak to four games.
Tied up at 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Eau Claire right fielder Adam LaRock (Iowa) worked a walk with the bases loaded to bring home the winning run. LaRock finished the night with three drawn walks, doing so with the bags juiced twice.
Starter Cody Dye (New Mexico) (1-1) ended up with the no decision after tossing six innings of three-run ball, making just one mistake in the third when he surrendered a three-run homer to Thunder Bay catcher Dayne Sommer (University of Central Oklahoma).
Dye wound up allowing just two hits on the evening while striking out nine Border Cats batters in what was a fantastic follow up to his five-inning, seven-strikeout performance in his last start back on July 30th.
Reliever Craig Colen (Cal Poly) (1-1) walked away with his first win of the season after pitching two scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth. The junior struck out two and allowed just one base runner on a walk.
While the Express offense wasn’t the dominating force it had been over it's last few contests, the five runs on four hits were just enough to get the job done in this one. As Thunder Bay’s hurlers struggled to keep their pitches over the plate, the Eau Claire lineup rode with a patient approach Sunday night, working a total of 12 bases on balls.
Center fielder Daytona Bryden (UW Whitewater) was named Marshfield Clinic Player of the Game after he reached base three times on two walks and a hit. Bryden also swiped two bags and eventually came around to score each time he found himself on the basepaths.
Tomorrow the Express will meet up with the Bismarck Larks (12-18 Second Half, 28-37 Overall) in what will be the first leg of a two-game series played over the next three days.
Luke Eldred (Dallas Baptist) is scheduled to get the nod on the mound for Eau Claire on Monday night, and will deliver the first pitch at 6:35 PM. Eldred has thrown 59 innings for the Express in 2017, running a 3.50 ERA in eight starts.
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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.