Thunder Bay, Canada –  The Eau Claire Express fuels from offense, taking home a double header sweep against the Thunder Bay Border Cats on Monday.

The two wins against the Border Cats put the Express back on track, leading the Great Plains East Division, with an 18-6 second-half record.

Facing a weather delay after the first inning, the Trains and Border Cats were faced with a doubleheader instead. In game one of the doubleheader, the Express secured a 10-9 victory due to early offensive momentum in the first innings, with the support of a strong defense to hold on and close out the game with a win.

The Express started with a bang, securing five runs in the first inning with Jaxon Schumacher hitting a double near right field, bringing home Philip Cheong, who got on base due to a double, then Anthony Martinez, who was previously on base after being walked.

Quickly after Hollon Brock made it home for a 3-0 lead after Jake Busson hit a single to center field, followed by Schumacher making it home from a Sawyer Stein single base hit to center.

To close out the early 5-0 lead, Busson ran home following an Ethan Miller hit to shortstop that went down as a fielder’s choice, for out number two.

Thunder Bay responded quickly with its own two runs, after the Express experienced some difficulty on the mound, with Imarion Stanberry facing two balks, before Tyler Bartley came in as a reliever.

However, not getting down and still holding a lead, the Express only grew, grabbing three more runs in the fourth inning due to Martinez hitting a three-run home run to left field.

The 9-2 lead over the Border Cats was quickly shortened as Thunder Bay came back, securing four runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth. The Trains rolled in with another run of their own at the top of the fifth inning to top their runs at 10 after Cheong crossed home plate on a Martinez single to center field.

With a first-half offensive momentum boost, the Trains relied more on defense for the second half of the game, only allowing in three more runs in the second half of the game, with Bartley and Warren Bowe working together from the mound, dishing out seven strikeouts between the two players and three walks.

The momentum kept flowing out in Thunder Bay, as the Express secured their second victory of the day against the Border Cats in a 7-2 defeat.

Eau Claire rolled out early again, securing two runs in the first inning, with an error on the third baseman bringing home Cheong, followed by Busson hitting a sacrifice fly to bring home CJ Varsho.

Thunder Bay responded with one run of its own, but the Express went off, securing five more runs in the second inning with AJ Marchetti and Mikey Muniz running home off a second baseman’s error, followed by Cade Palkowski hitting a single to center field, bringing home Cheong. Finally, Varsho crossed home off a Hollon Brock single to left field.

The early offensive momentum was enough for the Express, securing seven runs on four hits and two errors, compared to the Border Cats’ two runs on five hits and two errors.

Eau Claire will continue to take on the Thunder Bay Border Cats, but will now close the four-game series in Carson Park at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday.

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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.