Eau Claire, Wis. –  The Eau Claire Express achieved a 10-6 comeback victory against the Madison Mallards in a thrilling 10th inning showdown in Madison, Wisconsin, Sunday night.

Following a devastating 16-4 loss against the Mallards following a clinched playoff berth, the Trains rolled back into their usual path of winning to secure a 1-1 series tie against Madison, moving their second-half record to 23-17.

The Trains managed to secure their first run on the night in the first inning with CJ Varsho running home on a sacrifice fly hit by Hollon Brock. Despite a 1-0 early lead, the Mallards responded with two runs of their own, battling back and taking a 2-1 lead.

Responding, Landon Ubrig crossed home plate off a Cade Palkowski single to centerfield, tying up the score for the Express in the top of the second. Ultimately, taking the lead with one more additional run as Adam Salazar crossed home plate off a Varsho single base hit to center field.

However, the Mallards continued to have their offense moving, taking back their lead with two runs secured in the bottom of the third inning, followed by two more runs secured in the bottom of the fourth inning for a 6-3 lead.

Eau Claire waited for its moment and evened up the score in the sixth inning, as the Express had Sawyer Stein crossing home on a Ubrig sacrifice fly, followed by a Jaxon Schumacher making it home off a Salazar triple to left field.

Salazar tied up the game, bringing the Express to three secured runs of the inning as he crossed home on a passed ball thrown to Palkowski up at bat.

With a score of 6-6, the two teams played an additional inning to break the tie, which came in the Trains’ favor as the team was able to put together offensive momentum to close out the game with a four-run lead.

Starting the offensive momentum was Matthew Maulik, who hit a double to right field, bringing home Philip Cheong, who came in as a pinch runner for Hollon Brock and Anthony Martinez. Now 8-6, Salazar hit a single to center field, bringing in two more runners, Maulik and Stein, to close out the game with a 10-6 victory.

Leading the offensive momentum for the Express was Salazar, who went 5-for-2, securing a team high of three hits, one triple and three RBIs.

On the mound, the starting pitcher Sam Malone dished out two strikeouts in his three innings, followed by Warren Bowe, Jakeb lequia and Brock Adamson working together on the mound throughout the game, ending the night with a total of four strikeouts.

Adamson walked away with the win, as the Trains secured 10 runs off of nine hits and one error. Compared to the Mallards, who finished the night with six runs off of 13 hits and two errors.

The Express will travel back to Eau Claire to take on the Duluth Huskies at 6:35 p.m. Monday, for game one of a four-game series.

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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.