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Published On: June 24th, 2025

Eau Claire, Wis. – Playing in the Chippewa Valley for the first time in over a week, the Express fell to the Loggers 6-0 Monday night.

The matchup between division rivals was a pitchers duel early on as neither side pushed a run across through the first four innings.

The biggest threat for La Crosse came in the opening frame as RJ Hamilton singled before moving to third via a stolen base and a wild pitch, but Eau Claire starting pitcher Cohen Gomez (Stanford) worked a three-pitch strikeout to end the inning. The Anaheim Hills, Calif., native settled into the game from there, facing the minimum over the next three innings.

For the Trains it was the third inning that sparked hope on the offensive side as three consecutive batters reached with two outs to load the bases Quinton Coats (Cincinnati). The red-hot first baseman could not capitalize though, swinging through a pitch for strike three to end the threat.

The Loggers plated the first run of the game in the fifth to take control of the contest. A single and a walk put a runner in scoring position for catcher Max Kalk, who blooped a pitch into right-center field for an RBI single that gave La Crosse the lead. Gomez did a nice job of limiting the damage with a groundout and a flyout, but the one run surrendered was all it would take for him to earn the loss. He exited the game after recording a line of one run on six hits with six strikeouts through five innings.

The Loggers were not satisfied with just one run, as they proceeded to add on in each of the next three innings. The division leaders plated one in the sixth, three in the seventh and one final tally in the eighth. La Crosse primarily relied on stringing base hits together and moving runners over as it scored six runs on 14 hits — all of them singles.

The Trains failed to put much offense together after their unsuccessful rally in the third, managing just two hits throughout the remainder of the game. Starting pitcher Mateo Gray was the star of the show all evening as he went the distance to achieve a complete game shutout for the Loggers.

The loss dropped Eau Claire to 11-17 while La Crosse stretched its division lead to 1.5 games over Waterloo.

The Express will travel to Copeland Park seeking revenge as they take on the Loggers on the road each of the next two nights. The finale of four consecutive games between the two foes will be at Carson Park Thursday evening.

Box Score 

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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. Entering its’ 32nd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history 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, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and over 380 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 (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). League games are viewable live on Northwoods League+ (at watch.northwoodsleague.com), ESPN+, and the Northwoods League Network.  Learn more and find complete streaming schedules at watchnwl.com. 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.