La Crosse, Wisc. – The Loggers got shutout in Copeland Park by Blake Stockert. A rough 6th inning roughed up a nice start by Connor Wollersheim.
Both starting pitchers breezed by their opposing batting orders, combining to allowing only one baserunner past 1st base in the first 5 innings. Connor Wollersheim (Kent State) and Blake Stockert (North Dakota State) together struck out 13 batters in that time.
Willmar did get to Wollersheim in the 6th. Travis Wacker (Oklahoma State) took the first pitch of the inning into the Home Run Haven in right field for a solo home run. Three batters later with two outs Danny Pardo (Montevallo) kept the inning alive with a hot grounder that stayed fair down the 3rd base line into left field for a double. Danny Mayer (Pacific) brought in Pardo from 2nd with a single to center field. Eddie Estrada (Minnesota) capped off the inning with a 2-run shot to right-center, giving the Stingers a 4-0 lead.
Blake Stockert (North Dakota State) threw 6 scoreless innings, giving up just 3 hits, for his 4th win of the year (4-1). He walked 1 with 4 strikeouts.
Connor Wollersheim (Kent State) pitched very well in the loss, but fell into trouble late in his start, taking the loss (0-2) for the Loggers. Connor pitched 5.2 innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits. He walked 1 batter and struck out 9 Stingers.
La Crosse falls to 1-2 in the 2nd half, with an 18-21 overall record. Willmar wins their 4th straight game, staying a perfect 3-0 this half and 21-18 overall.
The Stingers stay in town for one more tomorrow night. Game time is 6:05. Get here when the gates open at 5 pm for a pre-game performance by the Blues Brothers Band! The first 500 fans will receive a free pair of Blue Brothers sunglasses.
