Minot, N.D. – The Express were on the road again tonight, this time facing the Minot Hot Tots. Unfortunately for the Tots, they weren’t quite hot enough as they lost to the visiting Eau Claire squad 11-6.
Dylan O’Connell (St. Thomas) wasted no time bringing baserunners home, as he hit a deep home run over the left field wall in the top of the 1st inning. This scored Bronson Rivera (Hawaii), who found his way on with a single of his own.
Lance Lauve (Southeastern Louisiana) was the starting Express pitcher, and he lasted 5 innings, posting 5 strikeouts, 7 hits, and giving up 5 Earned Runs.
Things were all knotted up between the two squads heading into the top of the 5th inning when Reed Latimer (Montevallo) came to the plate and hit a double into leftfield. Standing on 2nd, he took off as Rivera smoked another double over his head into centerfield. O’Connell kept the double train rolling in the next at-bat, hitting one to the same spot as Rivera’s. These back-to-back-back hits ended the night for the Minot starter, Paxton Miller. The reliever that was brought in to slow the bleeding did little to help right away, as 5 runs scored in the 5th, and another 2 were added in the top of the 6th.
The scoring stalled for the Express until the top of the 9th inning, when they added another run for good measure, on a Rivera HBP. In total, they racked up 11 runs on 9 hits for the game.
The Express stay in Minot where they will face the Hot Tots again tomorrow night. First pitch will be at 5:35 p.m. CST, and the full game will be streamed on the Northwoods League website.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Entering its’ 30th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 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, 325 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). League games are viewable live for FREE via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com as well as select games on ESPN+ and ESPNU. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.