Express Lock Up Home Win vs Honkers

The Express came away with a close one Monday night against Rochester, a team that has plagued Eau Claire since opening day. The Trains are now only 2-5 against the Honkers this season and are yet to win in Rochester. They will be looking to change that tomorrow afternoon as the team heads north to Minnesota to play the Honkers in an away game before an off-day on Wednesday.

The Honkers went up early in the 1st inning off an error, but the Express responded after Carter Graham (Stanford) launched a fastball into left-center field driving in his Stanford teammate Eddie Park to tie the ballgame in the bottom of the 1st.

But the Honkers would take the lead yet again in the 4th after Otto Grimm (Minnesota) drove one into right-center field scoring Ben Rosengard (Rice).

The Express didn’t take long to reply again as Graham stepped up again in the 5th to hit a bloop single into shallow center, bringing Ryan Lin-Peistrup (UIC) as well as Park home once more. 3-2 Express.

Although the end of the scoring came in the 5th Rochester loaded the bases in the 7th, only to be shut down as Jace Kressin (Evansville) came in relief of Eddy Pelc (San Diego) with a three-pitch strikeout to Rochester’s Zach Cole (Ball State).

In the end, Nick Herold (Winona State) recorded his seventh save of the season. Herold is now tied for the second-most saves in the entire Northwoods League behind only Evan Gates from Traverse City with eight.

The Express are back in action early tomorrow as they take on the Honkers again, this time in Rochester at 12:05 pm (CT).

The Eau Claire Express is a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27^th season, the Northwoods 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 250 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner, and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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 Google Play and set the Booyah as your favorite team.