Eau Claire, WI – The Eau Claire Express (16-17) demolished the Duluth Huskies (12-21) on Saturday night in front of a big crowd at Carson Park. The Express barreled down the track and never looked back, routing the Huskies 15-6.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap:
The Duluth Huskies jumped out to a quick lead early in the ballgame. Five of their six runs came in the first two innings. One scored in the 1st inning and four in the 2nd inning.
Eau Claire responded in the bottom of the 3rd, scoring three runs. Vincent Martinez (Stanford) walked to lead off the inning. Troy Beilsmith (Evansville) doubled and moved Martinez to third. Brandon Dieter (Stanford) tripled to score both runners. Sam Kohnle (Winona State) followed with a triple of his own, his first on the season, and Dieter scored.
A huge, 10 run 4th inning gave the Express a 13-5 lead and broke the game wide open. Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago) singled, Martinez walked, and Troy Beilsmith (Evansville) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. David LaManna (Notre Dame) singled and bumped everyone up one bag. Dieter drew an RBI walk to plate Martinez. Both Beilsmith and LaManna scored when Kohnle laced a 2 RBI single right up the middle. That play put the Express up 7-5. Next in the inning, Cole Cabrera (Cal Poly) walked and the bases were loaded once again. Spencer Myers (Notre Dame) reached 1st on a fielder’s choice. Dieter scored, Kohnle moved to third, but Cabrera was erased on the play. The bases were once again loaded when Bottcher drew a four-pitch walk, his second at bat of the inning. Yet another run would come in to score on a walk by Martinez. Beilsmith smoked a 2 RBI double to score Bottcher and Martinez. Beilsmith then scored on LaManna’s RBI single to put the Express up 14-5.
Not finished yet, another Eau Claire run came in during the 5th inning. Cabrera was hit by a pitch and moved to second on Bottcher’s single. Beilsmith walked to load the bases full of Express, followed by LaManna’s RBI walk to score Cabrera.
The final Express run came in the bottom of the 7th inning, putting the score to 15-5. Beilsmith singled and scored off Dieter’s RBI double. Duluth would muster up enough offense to score once more in the top of the 9th inning, putting the score to the final of 15-6.
Eau Claire continues the home stand tomorrow, Sunday, June 30th at 2:05. The Duluth Huskies are back in town for Princess and Superhero Night! Carson Park welcomes Disney Princesses and Marvel Heroes for one day only.
###
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.