La Crosse, Wis. – Eau Claire Express falls 6-5 late in the ninth inning, splitting the series 1-1 against La Crosse Monday night.

Earning the first run of the night in the second inning with Adam Salazar hitting a home run to right field for a 1-0 run, it seemed as though La Crosse always had a response. Starting with three runs in the third inning, to take a 3-1 lead.

Eau Claire continued to fight back, earning one run in the sixth inning as Sawyer Stein crossed home plate following a Mikey Muniz single to right field.

Tied up the game at the top of the seventh inning with CJ Varsho crossing home plate off a wild pitch thrown to Jake Busson. 

Despite tying up the game 3-3, La Crosse continued to battle back, earning another run in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead of 4-3 once again.

In a stressful eighth inning, Adam Salazar and Philip Cheong crossed home plate to take a 5-4 lead late in the game as Anthony Martinez hit a single to center field.

Holding onto hope, the Eau Claire defense continued to fail as La Crosse was able to earn another run after Lukas Buckner hit a single to center field to bring home Kelsen Johnson for a 5-5 tie.

Tied at the top of the ninth, the Eau Claire put all they had into the final inning to take home a series win; however securing zero runs in the top of the ninth inning. La Crosse was up to bat and Mana Lau Kong hit a home run to center field to close out the game 6-5.

##

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.