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Eau Claire, WI – The Eau Claire Express (19-13) got the best of the Bismarck Larks (11-23) in front of the biggest crowd of the season at Carson Park. The Express took an early lead and never looked back, defeating the Lark by a final of 6-3.
Lakeland University Postgame Recap
The Express were on the board first after scoring two runs in the bottom of the 1st. The bases loaded quickly on a walk from Zach Gilles (Central Michigan), and singles from Nick Marinconz (Cal Poly) and Matt Bottcher (Illinois-Chicago). Gilles scored on a ground out and Marinconz came in on a wild pitch.
Eau Claire added another run in the 2nd inning. Gilles was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Marinconz drove Gilles in on an RBI single to give the Express a 3-0 lead.
The offensive strength continued in the 5th. Bottcher led off with a walk. Alec Trela (Memphis) followed and absolutely crushed a no doubt home run that STILL hasn’t landed to put the Express up 5-0.
Bismarck wasted no time at all on their response. They blasted a 3 run homer to cut the Express lead to 5-3 in the 6th inning.
An insurance run came in the 8th for the Trains. Sam Kohnle reached on an error by the second baseman and advanced to third on an error by the shortstop. Adam LaRock (Madison College) drove Kohnle in on an RBI single.
Medin Milla (Dominican University) had a fantastic first outing for the Express and received the win after joining the team a few days ago. Milla went 7.0 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits and 6 walks. Jack Brown (Minnesota-State) tossed a scoreless 8th and struck out two batters. Nick Alvarado (Illinois-Springfield) got the save after shutting down the Larks in the 9th.
The Express travel to Waterloo, IA for the final two games of the regular season. Still in first place, Eau Claire will look to clinch their spot in the playoffs. Stay tuned to social media and our website in the coming two days for playoff updates!
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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.
