Duluth, MN- After a ninth-inning scare, the Express (12-15) locked up their second consecutive win over the Duluth Huskies (14-14) by a final score of 9-7.
Leading the Huskies 9-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Eau Claire outfielder Zach Ashford glided underneath a routine fly ball to record, what was seemingly, the final out of Monday night’s contest in Duluth. However, Ashford was unable to come up with the ball, allowing it to drop to the ground as the Huskies brought in two runs to make it 9-7 with the winning-run at the plate. Thankfully for Ashford and the Express, reliever Austin George was able to make quick work of the next batter, striking out Dean Nevarez on just three pitches to seal the Eau Claire victory.
In his second start with the Express this season, Ohio southpaw Gerry Salisbury (2-0) spun together a sparkling six-inning outing in which he allowed just two runs on five hits. While Salisbury didn’t have his strikeout stuff in this outing, the junior did a nice job inducing weak contact throughout the night, holding the Huskies to a .244 slugging percentage.
On the offensive end the Express knocked in nine runs on 15 hits and three walks, chipping away at the Huskies pitching staff with 13 singles in a hit parade that seemed to last all evening.
Eau Claire cashed in mightily on their two extra base hits, with Kyle Marinconz’s double in the first scoring two, and Pete McEvoy’s home run (1) in the fifth bringing-in himself and Beau Capanna, whom had reached base on an error in the at-bat just before.
With the win, Eau Claire is now just seven games back of the Waterloo Bucks for first place in the North Division, as the Express will look to claw their way back into contention before we flip over into the second half of the season.
Tomorrow Eau Claire will be back at Carson Park to begin a two-game homestand against the St. Butt Rox. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM, with California right-hander Aaron Shortridge penciled in to get the nod on the mound for the Express.
The Eau Claire Express are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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, more than 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). 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 on Google Play and set the Express as your favorite team.