Eau Claire, WI – The Eau Claire Express emerged victorious against the Waterloo Bucks by the score of 7-5 on Monday night. The win puts the Express four games ahead of the La Crosse Loggers for the second half title in the Great Plains East.
Express starting pitcher Jack Brown (Mankato State) struggled with control right out of the gate, allowing four runs in the first and having to come out of the game because of pitch count restrictions. In the bottom half, Eau Claire cut the deficit down to two on an errand throw from Waterloo and an RBI groundout from Joe Yorke (Cal Poly). Yorke would increase his RBI total to three in the third inning after depositing a two-run homer over the right-field fence to make it a tie ballgame. The Express wouldn’t stop there, taking the lead in the fifth on a two-RBI double off the bat of Max Coupe (Skyline College) that was just inches from clearing the wall. Each team put one more on the board in the seventh to conclude the scoring.
The Express received a massive boost from reliever Ethan Louthan (Oklahoma-Tonkawa) who threw six frames of one-run ball after Brown’s early exit. Derek True (Cal Poly) struck out the side to hold the lead in the eighth while Matt Helwig (Lewis) extended his scoreless streak to 25.1 innings as he locked down the game. The offense saw run contributions from Yorke and Coupe primarily, but Sam Kuchinski (Montevallo) added three hits and the team combined for an astounding 13 walks.
Eau Claire will have the day off tomorrow for the Major League Dreams Showcase put on by the Northwoods League but will return to action on Wednesday for the final game against Waterloo at 6:35 CT.
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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 Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 29th 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, 300 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 (NYM), 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 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. 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 Rockers as your favorite team.