Minot N.D. – The Express were in Minot Monday night for their third game of the series. This one, like Sunday night, did not go Eau Claire’s way as they lost 1-11 to the Hot Tots.
Cory Ronan (Hawaii) took the mound first for his third start of the season. Experience did not prevail tonight though, as he reached the inning maximum for pitches in the first, throwing 35 to Minot batters. In his only inning of the ballgame, the Hot Tot hitters got to him. 4 runs were scored by the home team in the bottom of 1 coming off of a combination of walks and hits.
After Ronan, Eau Claire worked through their bullpen, trying out 3 other arms throughout the night. Nick Fitzanko (Missouri-St. Louis), Dillon Schueler (Sauk Valley CC), and Derek Lilledahl (MSU Mankato) all spent time on the mound. Of the three, Schueler had the longest outing and pitched effectively, throwing for 4.2 innings while giving up only 3 hits and 2 runs.
Offensively, the Express did a little better than last night’s outing, as they recorded 1 run. However, they were still 1o shy of the Hot Tots, as the North Dakota squad scored in the first, third, fourth, seventh, and eighth innings.
Despite only having 6 hits as a team, Dylan O’Connell (St. Thomas) and Ryan Nagelbach (UIC) each had solid nights at the plate, recording 2 hits a piece, with a double for both batters.
The Express will look to win the final game and split the series with Minot tomorrow night at 6:35 p.m. CST. Tune in to watch the game live on the Northwoods League website or listen on the radio at 106.7 FM-Moose Country.
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