Waterloo, IA – The Eau Claire Express (13-14) was defeated in game three of the series against the Waterloo Bucks (14-13). Though they took an early lead, the Express fell behind in the 4th inning and was defeated by a final of 8-5.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap:
Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago) got the offense started right away, slashing a double to left field in the first at bat of the game. Brandon Dieter (Stanford) drove Bottcher in with an RBI single to center field.
The second Express run came in the second inning. Vincent Martinez (Stanford) started with a single to center field. With two outs in the inning, Bottcher came up with a big double to left that scored Martinez and gave the Express a 2-0 lead.
After the Bucks scored a run in the bottom of the 3rd, Eau Claire put one more run on the scoreboard in the 4th inning. Troy Beilsmith (Evansville) walked, stole second, and came in to score on an error by the Bucks second baseman.
Waterloo went ahead of Eau Claire in the bottom of the 4th inning after scoring 5 runs. The Express attempted a comeback in the top of the 5th inning. Bottcher led off with a single right back to the pitcher. Brock Burton (Grand Canyon) reached and advanced to second on an error by the centerfielder, Bottcher moved to third on the play. Phillip Sikes (Pima CC) drove in both base runners on a 2 RBI double that hit off the top of the left field wall.
The Bucks scored one run in the 6th and another in the 7th to bring the score to the final 8-5.
Alec Baker (Dallas Baptist) got the start for the Express and tossed three innings, giving up one run but did not surrender a hit. His Dallas Baptist teammate, Tim Ewald, entered in relief but was taken out after two straight walks and he did not record an out. Dylan Villalobos (Cal Poly) made his Express debut and went 3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks. Noah Denoyer (San Joaquin Delta) had another strong outing, as he worked two innings with one unearned run while striking out three.
Matt Bottcher had a fantastic day at the plate, going 4-5 with 3 doubles, 2 runs scored, and 1 RBI.
The Express finish the series in Waterloo tomorrow afternoon. After a game at 2:05 on 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