Eau Claire, Wis. –  Facing Thunder Bay back in Carson Park, the Express secured their third straight win against the Border Cats, 5-2 Tuesday night.

Still leading the Great Plains East Division with a 19-6 record with a three-game win streak, the Express continues to look to clinch the playoffs.

In a dominant first inning, Braxton Bjur took the mound for his fourth start this season and dished out 10 pitches, building momentum, as the Express took over on the bats. The Express secured one run and three hits in the first inning with Philip Cheong crossing home after a sacrifice fly hit by Cade Palkowski.

The lead only grew in the bottom of the second inning with a wild pitch thrown to Palkowski, letting Landon Ubrig run home, quickly followed by Mikey Muniz crossing home plate off a Palkowski triple to right field. 

Eau Claire sealed a 4-0 lead with Palkowski having his turn to cross home plate after Hollon Brock hit a single to left field.

Following a silent third inning, the Trains secured their last run of the night with Cheong crossing home on a Brock single to field, finalizing their score of a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Bjur on the mound, kept the Border Cats silent and prevented zero hits from Thunder Bay until the fifth inning, where Jacob Steinberg crossed home plate for Thunder Bay after Bennett Crafton hit a double to center field.

Ending his time on the mound, Bjur pitched for seven innings, allowing one hit, one run, two walks and delivering five strikeouts.

Going four innings without either team scoring, the Border Cats secured their last run of the night with Colin Fisher running home after a base hit to center field by Mark Ross II, closing out the game 5-2.

Leading the offensive momentum was Brock, who went 4-for-4 at bat and secured two RBI, contributing to the team’s five runs off of 11 hits and two errors. Compared to the Border Cats’ two runs off three hits.

The Express will finish their four-game series against the Border Cats in Carson Park 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.