Waterloo, Wis. –  An early game offensive surge silences the Waterloo Bucks as the Eau Claire Express secures a 12-2 victory over Waterloo Tuesday night.

Playing in a four-game series against the Bucks, the Express continue to hold their own, marking their third win in the series and extending their six-game win streak. This puts them on top of the Great Plains East Division with a second-half record of 15-4.

Using strategic playing tactics, the Express was able to secure a lead with three runs earned in the first inning. Starting with the first play of the game, going down as an error on the Buck’s third baseman advancing Philip Cheong to first, followed by Cheong coming home after a Cade Palkowski single to left field.

CJ Varsho marked the second player to cross home plate after Anthony Martinez hit a sacrifice bunt, leading to Varsho advancing to third base, then home. Matthew Maulik followed in Martinez’s pattern, hitting a sacrifice fly ball for Palkowski to return home.

Eau Claire doubled its score in the second inning, putting up three more runs with Cheong crossing home plate after a ball thrown to Palkowski, followed by Maulik hitting a double to right field, bringing home two more players in Express jerseys.

Not stopping anytime soon, the Express put up another three runs in the third inning with Sawyer Stein getting the bats moving and hitting a single to left field. With Quinten Marsh up to bat, Stein stole second base, then ran home after Marsh hit a single to right field.

Marsh was quickly able to come home after Varsho hit a single to left field, followed by Mikey Muniz scoring off of a double play for a 9-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, Marsh hit a two-run home run near right field. Followed by Palkowski crossing home once again after a Maulik single to center field in the fifth inning, finishing off the Express’s offensive momentum in the first half of the game and securing a 12-0 lead.

Waterloo only put up two runs, one in the sixth inning and one in the seventh. However, the Bucks were constantly stumped as the Express pitching game in clutch, with Bryce Ehr taking the mound first for five innings and securing two strikeouts, followed by Warren Bowe, then Tyler Bartley to close out the game.

The Express pitchers were only as good with the help of their defense as the team put together a total of 27 putouts, with Maulik paving the way with a team high of 10 total catches, four putouts and six assists, helping hold off the Bucks to two runs on 11 hits and two errors.

In contrast to the Bucks, the Express secured 12 runs off 15 hits and two errors, with the help of Maulik securing a team high of four RBIs, Varsho going 3-for-5 and securing one double during the victory.

The Express will take on Waterloo one last time to finish the four-game series at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday.

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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.