Eau Claire, WI – The Eau Claire Express won in dramatic fashion on Thursday night, beating the Bismarck Larks 8-7 on a walk-off sac fly. This win drops their magic number to six to clinch the Great Plains East second half title.

Bismarck would get on the board first, scoring an unearned run in the opening inning on an errand throw. The early offensive fireworks continued for the Express as they put up three runs in the bottom half, giving them 13 first inning runs in the last three games. The Larks would punch back in the 4th, tacking on three runs of their own as Express starter Will Rizzo (Texas A&M) struggled to find his control. Eau Claire had an answer though, tying the game at four on an RBI fielder’s choice from Peter Brookshaw (North Dakota State).

The Larks put up one run in each the 6th and 7th to give themselves a two-run advantage, but Eau Claire would cut it down to one on a sac fly off the bat of Charlie Szykowny (UW-Stout). Bismarck added another insurance run in the top half of the 9th on a RBI bloop single from Bradlee Preap (Radford).

The Express quickly put together a rally in their last chance at the plate. Charlie Saum (Stanford) punched a single up the middle to score two and tie the game at seven. Bismarck intentionally walked Sam Hunt (Vanderbilt) to load the bases with one out, bringing Clay Conn (Illinois-Chicago) to the plate. Conn would send a ball into foul territory in right field, giving Reed Latimer (Montevallo) enough time to score for a walk-off sac fly.

Eau Claire will look back-to-back sweeps tomorrow as they take on the Larks at 7:05 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’ 29^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, 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 Express as your favorite team.