Eau Claire, Wis. – On a bright sunny Monday evening, the Eau Claire Express ended its opening game with a 10-8 loss against the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders at home.

Although grabbing an early lead at the bottom of the second inning, the freshman infielder Landon Ubrig brought the Express to a 5-2 lead. The Spiders continued to dominate offensively and always had a response for any defense pressure put on them.

At the top of the third, the Dock Spiders earned two runs after a double hit to center field by freshman outfielder Evan Abbot. 

Keeping the game relatively slow for the next few innings, it looked as though Eau Claire found a high in it’s offense within the seventh inning, earning two runs with the help of Adam Wall’s single to left field and a walk from Ubrig at the start of the inning to eventually cross home plate, bringing the Express to a 7-5 lead.

Proving they thrive under pressure, the Dock Spiders earned four runs in the ninth and final inning, with the help of a Quincy Mazeke triple near center field, to bring home their own teammates.

Although holding on to as long as they could, the Express could not retaliate, scoring one run and finishing their home opener 10-8.

Despite the loss, positives were shown throughout Eau Claire’s game, with starting pitcher Hunter Guenther securing a team high of five strikeouts. On the offensive side, Jaxon Schumacher had a team high of three hits, contributing to the team’s overall 13.

The Eau Claire Express will be back in Carson Park Tuesday with a 7:05 p.m. start time to close out their series with the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders.

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The Eau Claire Express is 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. Having completed its 27th 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, over 250 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 (WAS), 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 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.eauclaireexpress.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or Google Play and set the Booyah as your favorite team.