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Mankato, MN – The Eau Claire Express (8-10) fell behind the Mankato MoonDogs (10-8) early and could not complete the comeback after the early deficit, falling by a final score of 8-4.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap: The MoonDogs opened the scoring early, taking advantage of shaky Express pitching. Mankato drove in 6 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning. They accomplished this without a hit and utilized 3 walks, a hit by pitch, a passed ball, two wild pitches, and an error. The MoonDogs would continue in the 2nd inning, scoring one more run on two hits as they took a 7-0 lead.
The Express got on the board in the 3rd inning. Adam Krajewski (St. Thomas) walked and advanced to 2nd base on Troy Beilsmith’s (Evansville) single. After both runners advanced on a wild pitch, Spencer Myers (Notre Dame) hit an RBI single that plated Krajewski and bumped Beilsmith to 3rd base. Beilsmith would score on a Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago) fielder’s choice.
Continuing to fight back, Eau Claire put up two more runs in the top of the 5th. Krajewski reached on an E5 and was followed by Beilsmith safely reaching on an E4. Phillips Sikes (Pima CC) ripped a 2 RBI double to left field that scored both base runners.
Mankato added the last run of the game in the 8th inning off one hit and one error. This would put the score to the final of 8-4.
Tim Ewald (Dallas Baptist) began on the mound but could not get in a rhythm. He failed to get an out and gave up 6 runs on three walks and no hits. In the 0.0 innings, Ewald was plagued by walks, hit batsmen, and wild pitches. Express newcomer, Brennan Jordan (Cowley CC) entered to settle things down and ended up throwing 6.0 fantastic innings. Jordan allowed only one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. Nick Lopez (Illinois – Chicago) came in for the final two innings. An unearned run crossed home aided by one hit, three walks, and an E4.
Eau Claire returns home to Carson Park tomorrow Friday, June 14th for a 7:05 pm first pitch against the Duluth Huskies. The Express will be giving away the last prize you will ever need with a prepaid funeral from Evergreen Funeral Home and Crematory! There will also be a post game firework show on what should be a beautiful summer night at the ballpark.
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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 25-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). 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.
