Express Walk it off in a Thriller

Coming into tonight, the Express had just one win against the St. Cloud Rox all season; it was a walk-off at home under the lights in front of the home crowd at Carson Park. Lighting struck twice on this occasion courtesy as the Express came away victors 11-10 against a Rox team that boasts the best record in the Northwoods League.

Jace Kressin (Evansville) made his first start for Eau Claire tonight, going three innings and recording four punchouts before being relieved by Ben Shepard (Minnesota-Duluth).

The scoring started early for the Rox when Bobby Goodloe (TCU) lined one down the first-base line scoring two for St. Cloud. Then, Jordan Barth (Augustana) stepped up and drove one past Ryan Lin-Peistrup (UIC) at shortstop to tack on another run for the Rox in the first. 3-0 Rox.

The Express responded strongly in the bottom of the first, scoring four runs thanks to some shaky starting pitching from Trent Schoeberl (Minnesota) and a sacrifice fly from one of the Express debutants Carter Mize (Missouri Baptist).

The game would go back and forth all the way down to the seventh when Eddy Pelc (San Diego) stepped up in relief of Shepard and only allowed a single run, a solo shot from Rox Easton Waterman (Point Loma Nazarene) coming in his first game for St. Cloud.

Pelc would go on to pitch lights out for the remainder of the game. But it was the bats that got the job done for the Express in the bottom of the ninth. A Drew Lechnir (Central Michigan) bunt combined with a Rox passed-ball throw to first scored Lin-Peistrup from first base to tie the game at 10s. Then Alejandro Macario (Nova Southeastern) would dig in and drive one down the center of the field, scoring Lechnir and giving Eau Claire their 24th win of the season.

The Express will run it back against the Rox at Carson Park on Wed. August 4th, at 6:35 p.m. (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.