Eau Claire, WI – The pitching for the Eau Claire shined on Monday night as the Express (11-12) shut out the Thunder Bay Border Cats (8-15) by a score of 5-0.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap:
Nate Davis (Triton College) was the star of the game for the Express. The starter tossed 8 innings and earned the win for Eau Claire. Davis was dominant, as he did not allow a run and gave up only four singles. The lefty struck out five. Noah Denoyer (San Joaquin Delta) locked down the game in the 9th inning, tossing a one hit, one strikeout frame.
Early scoring was the key for Eau Claire’s offense. The Express would take a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning. Troy Beilsmith (Evansville) was hit by a pitch and was followed by four straight walks. Those walks were issued to Spencer Myers (Notre Dame), Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago), Phillip Sikes (Pima CC), and Brandon Dieter (Stanford). Beilsmith scored on the Sikes walk and Myers crossed home on Dieter’s free pass.
The second inning would see one more Express run. Connor Laspina (Flagler College) walked and stole second. Myers laced an RBI single right up the middle to score Laspina and make it 3-0 Eau Claire.
The final two runs of the game would come in the bottom of the 3rd of a couple of hard-hit doubles. Sikes led off with a two-base knock. In the next at bat, Dieter walked. Vincent Martinez (Stanford) came up with a big RBI double to score Sikes and bump Dieter to third. Sam Kohnle was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Laspina drove in the run on a sacrifice fly to the left fielder to give the Express a 5-0 lead and what would come to be the final score.
Eau Claire finishes up this home stand tomorrow night, Wednesday, June 19th, against the Border Cats. The 6:35 pm game features both Mascot Olympics and Twins Night, sponsored by Metropolis Resort! Watch Trix and Trax compete for gold against area mascots for the right to stand above the rest on the podium. Also, wear all your favorite Minnesota Twins gear and have the opportunity to win tickets to a Twins game.
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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.