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Eau Claire, WI – The Eau Claire Express (18-12) saw their offense come alive in the late innings as they exploded for 10 runs in the ballgame and a 10-5 victory over the Bismarck Larks (10-22).
Lakeland University Postgame Recap
The game was quiet in the first two innings until the 3rd inning when the Larks scored the first run in the game. Bismarck added another in the top of the 4th to take a 2-0 lead.
Eau Claire tied it up at 2-2 in the bottom of the 4th. David LaManna (Notre Dame) led off with a single and scored on Alec Trela’s (Memphis) RBI double. Zach Gilles (Central Michigan) singled and Brandon Dieter (Stanford) walked to load the bases. Sam Stonskas (Blackhawk CC) drew the bases loaded walk to plate Trela and score the second run of the inning.
The game fell silent again until the bottom of the 7th inning when Eau Claire tacked on two more runs. Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago) hit his 7th triple of the season, tying a single season record. Bottcher scored on LaManna’s sacrifice fly to right field. Trela followed with his second double of the game and came in on Dieter’s RBI single.
The bats exploded in the bottom of the 8th and the trains were rolling. The Express batting around and scored 6 runs in the inning. Cole Cabrera (Cal Poly) started with an absolute moon shot of a home run to left field. Then, the bases loaded after singles from Brock Burton (Grand Canyon) and Bottcher, and a walk from LaManna. Gilles bounced a ground rule double over the wall to score Burton and Bottcher. LaManna came in on a groundout and Sam Kohnle (Winona State) drove in Gilles on an RBI single. As the Express batted around, Burton came back to plate Kohnle on an RBI single.
The Larks got a few runs back in the top of the 9th. Three runs scored on four hits to bring the score to the final 10-5 Express win.
After rejoining the team, Andrew Tri (St Thomas) got the start for the Express. He went 6.0 innings and gave up 2 runs, one being earned. Jack Brown (Minnesota-State) earned the win after two scoreless innings. Peyton Sherlin (Dallas Baptist) pitched the 9th and allowed 3 runs on four hits.
The Express continue on the homestand, tomorrow the 8th, for a 6:35 pm first pitch against the Larks. Join us for a can koozie giveaway sponsored by Cesspool Cleaner Company! Is there better night to give away can koozies than ‘Thirsty Thursday’? We don’t think so. Thanks, Cesspool Cleaner Company for your support and keeping our beverages cold.
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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 and set the Express as your favorite team.
