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Thunder Bay, ON – Tanner Kohlhepp led the Eau Claire Express (10-5, 29-22) to a shutout victory over the Thunder Bay Border Cats (2-13, 16-34). After making the trip north of the border, the Express defeated the Cats by a score of 6-0.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap:
Scoring began in the top of the 3rd inning for the Express. Brandon Dieter (Stanford) led off with a single. Sam Stonskas (Blackhawk CC) doubled and advanced Dieter to third. Cole Cabrera (Cal Poly) hit a sacrifice fly to left field and put the Express up 1-0.
After quiet middle innings, Eau Claire jumped back on the board in the top of the 7th, scoring 3 runs. Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago) singled and stole second. Nick Marinconz (Cal Poly) hit a single of his own and moved Bottcher to third. David LaManna (Notre Dame) followed with a walk to load the bases. Sam Kohnle (Winona State) came up with a big 2 RBI double to plate Bottcher and Marinconz. Later in the inning, Dieter drove in LaManna on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Not done yet, the Express added 2 runs in the 8th. Cabrera started with a double and stole third. Brock Burton slashed an RBI single to drive in Cabrera. Burton moved to second on a Bottcher single, to third on an E1, and scored on a wild pitch. This put the game at the final, 6-0.
Tanner Kohlhepp (Tennessee) was absolutely dominant on the mound. The Eau Claire native earned the win after tossing 8.0 scoreless innings and striking out 15 batters. He allowed just five hits and one walk. Alec Baker (Dallas Baptist) entered and pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
Eau Claire continues the Thunder Bay weekend series on Sunday with a 12:35 pm first pitch. After a league wide off day on Wednesday, July 24th, the Express return home on Thursday, July 25th. The Waterloo Bucks will be in town for a 6:35 pm first pitch. “Outside the sun is shining and friends are calling “yoo-hoo!” Join us as we celebrate Christmas in July at Carson Park!
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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.
