Thunder Bay, ON – The Eau Claire Express (11-6, 30-23) could not continue their success against the Thunder Bay Border Cats (3-14, 17-35) on Monday night at Port Arthur Stadium. Both teams scored early but only Thunder Bay was able to score in extras as the Express fell in 10 innings by a final of 3-2.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap:
The Express got things started quickly, scoring a run in the top of the 1st. Brock Burton (Grand Canyon) walked and advanced to third on Vincent Martinez’s (Stanford) single. David LaManna (Notre Dame) drove Burton in on an RBI bloop single to center field.
The second inning saw another Eau Claire run, this time coming from the long ball. Brandon Dieter (Stanford) launched a no-doubter over the left field wall for his second home run of the season and gave the Express a 2-0 lead.
The Border Cats got one run back in the bottom of the 4th on two walks and a fielder’s choice. Thunder Bay tied the game at 2-2 in the 5th on another two walks and one base hit.
The game when silent from the 5th inning on, as neither team could find a way to score. The Express failed to plate the runner from second base during the top of the 10th inning. Thunder Bay took advantage, bunting their runner to third in the bottom half of the inning. A wild pitch allowed the Border Cat to score and give Thunder Bay a 3-2 victory.
Nick Alvarado (Illinois-Springfield) got the start for the Express and went 6.0 innings, giving up two runs on just two hits but Alvarado was hurt by 6 walks issued. Peyton Sherlin (Dallas Baptist) tossed 1.1 scoreless innings and struck out two batters. Jack Brown (Minnesota-State) took the loss after the Border Cats scored a run in the 10th inning. Because of the international tie breaker rule, that run is an unearned run for Brown but is an Express team earned run.
Eau Claire finishes the Thunder Bay series on Tuesday with a 6:05 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.