Express Split Series with Bucks

The Express were the first to get on the board, scoring two in the 1^st inning. Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago) started with a single to right field. He stole second and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Phillip Sikes (Pima CC) walked to put runners on the corners. Troy Beilsmith (Evansville) came up with the big hit, driving in both runners on a 2 RBI double left field. The Bucks responded quickly, scoring two of their own in the bottom half of the inning and then taking a 3-2 lead in the 2^nd inning.

Another run would score for Eau Claire in the 3^rd inning to tie the game 3-3. Bottcher once again began with a single, this time to left field. Brandon Dieter (Stanford) singled and advanced Bottcher to second base. After both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch, Vincent Martinez (Stanford) drove Bottcher in on an RBI single. Waterloo had a four-run bottom of the 4^th and took a 7-3 lead.

Trying to rally, the Express plated two runs in the top of the 7^th. Sikes reached on a four-pitch walk. Beilsmith laid down a sac bunt but got to first on an error by the Bucks pitcher. Sikes went to third on the play. In the next at bat, a wild pitch got away from Waterloo and Sikes slid into home on a heads-up play. David LaManna (Notre Dame) was next up and singled up the middle to plate Beilsmith.

Eau Claire got another run back in the 8^th inning and cut the Bucks lead to 7-6. Bottcher singled to right field and was followed by a Brandon Dieter walk. Both runners were bumped up a base on a wild pitch. Bottcher scored on a Sikes groundout.

Nick Alvarado (Illinois-Springfield) had his first start of the season for the Express. The 6’7 junior went 4.0 innings, giving up 7 runs on 9 hits. Jonathan Worley (Stanford) had a strong 3.0 innings of relief, as he allowed no runs and just 2 hits. Brannon Jordan (Cowley CC) tossed a scoreless 8^th inning, striking out two.

There will be a league-wide off day on Monday, June 24th before Eau Claire returns 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