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Eau Claire, WI – The Eau Claire Express (4-2, 23-19) defeated the Duluth Huskies (3-3, 16-26) via a walk off wild pitch on Monday night at Carson Park. The offensive battle ended as the Express won 8-7.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap:
Duluth opened the game with a loud top of the 1st inning. 5 runs came home to score in the top half on five hits and the Huskies batted around.
The Express answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half. Zach Gilles (Central Michigan) and Spencer Myers (Notre Dame) both walked. Cole Cabrera (Cal Poly) hit an RBI single to score Gilles and move Myers to 3rd. Myers came in on a sacrifice fly hit to the right fielder by Troy Beilsmith (Evansville).
The Huskies scored one more in the top of the 2nd inning to go up 6-2. That lead did not hold long as the Express came roaring back with a 4-run bottom of the 2nd. Nick Lopez (Illinois-Chicago), Sam Kohnle (Winona State), and Gilles walked to load the bases. Cabrera was issued a walk which scored Lopez. Beilsmith came up with a huge 3 RBI double that cleared the bases and tied the ballgame at 6-6.
After quiet 3rd and 4th innings, Duluth managed to put another run on the board in the 5th to retake the lead at 7-6.
Waiting until the 8th inning to strike, the Express tied up the game. Myers walked and Cabrera slashed an RBI triple to left field, putting the score to 7-7.
The bottom of the 9th inning came, and Nick Lopez led off with a ground rule double. Connor Laspina (Flagler College) singled to advance Lopez to third. On the next pitch, Lopez raced home on a Huskies wild pitch. He was engulfed in a sea of orange as his Express met him behind home plate to celebrate the walk off 8-7 victory.
Eau Claire will head to Thunder Bay, Canada for a two-game series against the Border Cats. They return home to Carson Park on Thursday, July 11th to face the Waterloo Bucks for a 6:35 pm first pitch. Join us for Military Appreciation Night at the ballpark, sponsored by Logistics Health Incorporated.
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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.
