Eau Claire, Wis. – The third sweep of the season for the Express is in the books.
Starting pitcher Austin Mattingly (Missouri Southern State) dazzled in his first start of the summer to lead Eau Claire to a comfortable 8-3 win against Thunder Bay. Two big innings made the difference as the Trains plated three in the fifth and five in the seventh to cruise to victory.
The contest was shaping up to be a pitcher’s duel early as Border Cats starter Jeff Tiw and Mattingly went toe-to-toe through four innings. The Express got the first tally though as the scoreless tie was broken in the fifth in a big way.
Adam Salazar (Cal State Bakersfield) led off the inning with a seven-pitch walk to begin the rally for Eau Claire. An error by Thunder Bay’s pitcher on Alex Hendrickson’s (St. Thomas) sacrifice bunt allowed him to reach safely before Marcelino Alonso (Indiana State) loaded the bases with an infield single. A pair of strikeouts gave hope to the Border Cats, but a wild pitch allowed Salazar to score for the first run of the game and Sean Barta (Arizona) notched his first hit as a Train soon after to score Hendrickson. One more run came across in the inning on Matthew Cormier’s (Cal State Northridge) bases-loaded walk, and the Express jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
Mattingly continued to shine on the mound once Eau Claire took the lead, working a clean fifth and a three-up-three-down sixth to end his outing. The right-hander picked up the win as he pitched six innings giving up no runs on two hits and striking out eight batters.
Kale Hopke (Miami (OH)) battled in the seventh inning to post a scoreless frame and hold the Express lead. His offense quickly backed him up with a long rally that scored five runs and blew the game open.
The hosts strung five hits and a walk together in the long inning. Cormier plated the first run of the frame with a single to drive in Barta and Jackson Glueck (Pima) doubled to right-center field to score Ian Guanzon (East Tennessee State) and make it a 5-0 lead. Hendrickson and Alonso singled for the final hits of an inning, driving in one and two runs respectively to put Eau Claire ahead 8-0.
Thunder Bay generated some offense late in the game with two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth, but it was too little too late as the Express held on for the win.
Eau Claire moved to 4-4 in the second half with the victory as it hosts Minot for a double header Wednesday. Game 1 is at 11:05 a.m. and Game 2 is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
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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.
