St. Cloud, MN- Looking for their seventh consecutive win, the Eau Claire Express (22-11 Second Half, 37-32 Overall) took a loss at the hands of the St. Cloud Rox (16-17 Second Half, 41-28 Overall) by a 7-4 score in St. Cloud Thursday night.
With the loss, Eau Claire falls into a tie with the Mankato MoonDogs (22-11 Second Half, 42-27 Overall) for first place atop the North Division second half standings.
Express starter Manny Castellano (Univ. of the Cumberlands) lasted just three innings in this one after having not made a start since July 31st. Castellano allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out six Rox hitters.
Left fielder Adam LaRock (Iowa) and designated hitter Kyle Marinconz (Cal Poly) were the only two Eau Claire hitters to collect at least two hits in the ballgame. Marinconz also drove-in two runs, his 34th and 35th RBI on the season.
The Express will clash with the Rox in St. Cloud once more, tomorrow at 7:05 PM, before both teams travel to Eau Claire for the weekend to finish up the regular season with a two-game set at Carson Park.
Expected to start on the mound for the Express in tomorrow’s matchup is right-hander Ryan Zimmerman (St. Thomas) (4-2). The junior is coming off one of his finest starts of 2017, in which he tossed six scoreless frames with nine strikeouts in a win over Thunder Bay.
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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.