Eau Claire, WI – The Eau Claire Express (7-3, 26-20) struggled against the Waterloo Bucks (4-6, 24-22) on Friday night at Carson Park. Pitching faltered and offense was silent in the 14-6 loss.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap:
Waterloo jumped to a 4-0 lead after scoring three runs in the top of the 1st inning and another run in the 2nd.
The Express tied the game up 4-4 in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Connor Laspina (Flagler) led off with a single and Cole Cabrera (Cal Poly) reached on an E5. Zach Gilles (Central Michigan) followed with a walk to load the bases. Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago) cleared the bases on a 3 RBI triple. Beilsmith plated Bottcher in the next at bat on a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Bucks were dominant in the next five innings, scoring 10 unanswered runs. They scored in pairs, adding two runs in the 4th, 5th, and 7th innings. Waterloo put 4 runs on the board in the top of the 8th and went ahead 14-4.
Eau Claire scored twice in the bottom of the 9th inning. Gilles started with a triple and Bottcher walked. Gilles scored on a sac fly hit by Vincent Martinez (Stanford) and Bottcher came in on an error by the Bucks shortstop.
All-Star Noah Denoyer (San Joaquin Delta) got his first start of the season for the Express. The sophomore went 3.0 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks. Rece Finck (Illinois-Springfield) tossed 2.0 innings and gave up 4 runs, 2 being earned. Matt Verdun (Lewis) entered for 2.0 and allowed 2 runs. Ethan Swanson (Cowley) could not get an out, but four runs scored during his time on the mound. Kuster Kinlecheenie (Montevallo) pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th. Kinlecheenie had the strongest outing, striking out 5.
Eau Claire continues this home stand tomorrow, Saturday the 13th, as they welcome the Thunder Bay Border Cats for a 6:35 pm first pitch. Join us for a pregame band and a great night at the ballpark!
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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.