Eau Claire Walks Off Mankato

The Express found themselves down by a run in the middle of the 1^st inning. After a scoreless 2^nd frame, Eau Claire took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 3^rd inning. David LaManna (Notre Dame) and Nick Lopez (Illinois-Chicago) lead off with back-to-back singles. They both moved up a base on Cole Cabrera’s (Cal Poly) sacrifice bunt. Spencer Myers (Notre Dame) gave the run-scoring blow, lacing a 2 RBI double to center field.

The MoonDogs responded right away in the top half of the 4^th inning, scoring two runs on one hit. They took a 3-2 lead. Mankato added one more run and went up 4-2 during the 6^th inning.

Eau Claire tied the game at 4-4 in the 7^th. LaManna once again started with a single but was erased on a fielder’s choice hit by Lopez. Due to an error on Mankato’s second baseman, Lopez got to second base on the play. Cabrera switched places with him in the next at bat, crushing an RBI double to the outfield wall. After advancing to 3^rd on a wild pitch, Cabrera scored on Myer’s RBI single.

Heading to the 10^th inning, the game was tied 4-4. Mankato started with a runnerat 2^nd base due to the new Northwoods League extra innings rule, but failed to score him.

Nick Lopez was the runner at 2^nd to begin the bottom half of the 10^thfor the Express. The MoonDogs intentionally walked both Myers and Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago) wanting no part of the strong Express batsmen. With the bases loaded, Brandon Dieter (Stanford) came to the plate. Dieter hit a sacrifice fly, deep to center field that easily scored Lopez and gave the Express a 5-4 walk off win.

Express starter, Craig Colen (Cal Poly) went 5.0 innings in his first start of the 2019 season. Colen allowed three runs on three hits and one walk, while striking out four. Eau Claire native, Jack Brown (Minnesota-State), worked 2.2 innings and gave up one run on five hits. Nick Herold (Winona State) earned the win after pitching masterfully for 2.1 innings. Herold struck out four and allowed just one hit during his time on the mound. He also was key in the extra inning success, not allowing Mankato’s runner to score from second base in the top of the 10th.

This home stand continues for the Express tomorrow, Wednesday, June 26^th. Join us for a 6:35 pm first pitch and Country Night, sponsored by Time Federal Savings Bank! It’s all country Wednesday night at Carson Park. Show up and wear your favorite country attire for a chance to win Country Fest tickets!

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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