LA CROSSE, WI- The Loggers swept the home series against the Growlers with a 11-6 win in Copeland Park tonight. The wins helped La Crosse stay in the race for the wild card. Right now, La Crosse would be in the playoffs with the third wild card position.
Brandon Lawson (South Florida) was on fire tonight. His one blemish, a solo home run in the 1st inning by Growler first baseman Jordan Stading (Houston).
Ryan Kirby got the Loggers on the board with a 2-run home run of his own in the 2nd inning. This started a 4-inning scoring streak for the Lumberman. Jordan Zimmerman (Michigan State) walked and Brock Lundquist (Long Beach State) singled to start the 3rd. Keith Skinner took the opportunity drove two more runs in his single to right.
La Crosse added two more in the 4th on a Jordan Zimmerman sacrifice fly to center and an Alex Merritt fielder’s choice. But the Loggers were not done just yet. Ryan Kirby walked and scored from first on a Zander Clarke (UCLA) double. Mason McCoy (Iowa), who has put on a show this season, hit a blast to center for a 2-run home run. Just like that, La Crosse was up 9-1.
Brandon Lawson finished the night going 6.1 innings. He gave up one run on only two hits and struck out a team-high 11 batters.
Kalamazoo added one run off of Jordan Pearce (Nevada), who came in relief of Lawson in the 7th. Alex Merritt (North Florida) and Chris Baker (Washington) reached on hits two extend the Logger lead to 11-2. Kalamazoo put four more up on the board off Pearce and Ronnie Gideon (Texas A&M), but Matt Naylor (North Florida) cleaned up the 9th to finish the game.
The Loggers head east for a doubleheader at Lakeshore 4:30 start. Game 1 will be started in the 3rd inning, from a postponement in June. Tune into the Loggers Radio Network, pregame starts at 4:00 pm.
