Eau Claire, WI – The Eau Claire Express and the Thunder Bay Border Cats met for the final game of their series on Wednesday night. After a close 9 innings, the final score was 4-2.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap:
The scoring began for the Express in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Nick Lopez (Illinois-Chicago) and Sam Kohnle (Winona State) both singled. In his first pitch he saw in an Express uniform, Cole Cabrera (Cal Poly) laced an RBI double to score Lopez. The Border Cats responded in the top of the 4th, tying the game up 1-1 after one run came in.
The big inning for Eau Claire came in the bottom of the 6th. Three singles by Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago), Phillip Sikes (New Mexico), and Vincent Martinez (Stanford) loaded the bases. Kohnle hit an RBI single that plated Bottcher and Cabrera singled to drive in Martinez. The Express took a 4-1 lead in the inning. The Border Cats scored the final run of the game in the top of the 8th inning, putting the score to 4-2.
Matt Verdun (Lewis) got the start for the Express tonight. We went 4.2 innings, giving up one run on two hits and six walks. Verdun struck out three. Stanford newcomer, Jonathan Worley, was the first out in relief and tossed 1.1 innings. Ethan Swanson (Cowley CC) pitched 2 innings with one run scoring. Nick Herold (Winona State) finished the game for the Express, tossing a scoreless 9th.
Due to an inadvertent pitching rule violation, the Eau Claire Express were assigned the loss by the Northwoods League following the end of tonight’s game. All player statistics earned in the game will remain the same.
The Express begin a four-game series in Waterloo, Iowa tomorrow evening. After a league-wide off day on Monday, June 24th, Eau Claire will return to Carson Park on Tuesday, June 25th to face the Mankato MoonDogs. It’s Back to Baseball Night with a 6:35 pm first pitch. Sports Talk 105.1 will team up with the Express to bring the night ‘Back to Baseball’ with the sights and sounds of the game we all grew up to love.
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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.