Waterloo, IA – The Eau Claire Express (13-13) and Waterloo Bucks (13-13) competed in a pitchers’ duel Friday night at Riverfront Stadium. Tanner Kohlhepp shined for the Express and led the way to a 3-2 Eau Claire victory.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap:
Hometown hero and Eau Claire Memorial Alum, Tanner Kohlhepp (Tennessee), was magnificent on the mound. The freshman went 7.0 strong innings, giving up just one run on four hits and did not issue a walk. Kohlhepp struck out seven Bucks and earned the win. Nick Herold (Winona State) closed the final 2.0 innings and picked up the save. Herold allowed one run on two hits and one walk.
After the first four innings were scoreless for both teams, Eau Claire opened the scoring in the top of the 5th. Working with two outs, David LaManna (Notre Dame) sliced a double to left field. In the next at bat, Nick Lopez (Illinois-Chicago) singled to center field and drove in LaManna. The Bucks went on to tie the game, 1-1, in the 7th inning on two hits.
The Express would retake the lead in the top of the 8th inning. Spencer Myers (Notre Dame) led off the inning with a single. Brandon Dieter (Stanford) reached on a fielder’s choice and Myers advanced to 2nd base safely. Myers crossed home on an error by the Bucks shortstop.
An insurance run was added for Eau Claire in the 9th inning. Troy Beilsmith (Evansville) singled. Cole Cabrera (Cal Poly) put down a sacrifice bunt to move Beilsmith to second base. After stealing third base, Beilsmith scored on a Vincent Martinez (Stanford) RBI single to right field that put the Express up 3-1.
Waterloo would attempt a 9th inning comeback but would fall just short as the final score was 3-2.
The Express is now halfway through the series in Waterloo. After games at Riverfront Stadium on Saturday and Sunday, there will be 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.