La Crosse, Wisc. – If I told you that Justin Wylie (San Diego State) scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th on back-to-back stolen bases following a sacrifice bunt, would you believe me? I didn’t think so. But it happened tonight in front of the Copeland Crazies as the Loggers took the game 7-6 over Willmar
Willmar got to Loggers starter Mitch Stalsberg (Winona State) early in the game. Justin Toerner (Cal. State Northridge) singled to center with one out. A walk put another on for Willmar right fielder Danny Mayer (Pacific), who took the 2nd pitch he saw for a 3-run home run to center field.
The Stingers added two more in the 4th on a bases loaded fielder’s choice, but the 2nd end of the attempted double play was too late. In the next at-bat, Travis Wacker (Oklahoma State) came home from 3rd after a stolen base at 2nd drew a throw away from home.
La Crosse fought back in their half of the 4th with a leadoff double by Griffin Conine (Duke). Cullen Large (William & Mary) followed with a single. Grant Fennell (Nevada) brought in the first run on a sacrifice fly to center field. Kyle Plantier (UC-Santa Barbara) brought the Loggers back within 3 runs with a RBI double.
Facing a 3-run deficit, the Loggers grabbed two runs in the 8th on singles by Kevin Collard (Nevada) and Jake Hirabayashi (UCLA), bring the Lumbermen with a run after trailing 5-0 after 4 innings.
After Willmar got back a run in the 9th, the Loggers continued their momentum into the final frame. Two singles and a sacrifice bunt put runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs for Collard. Kevin hit a line drive down the right field line, scoring both runners and tying the game at 6. He did end the inning trying to extend the single to a double.
Justin Wylie started the wild finish by walking to lead off the 10th. Lorenzo Hampton Jr. laid down a simple sacrifice bunt to move Wylie to 2nd base. The heads up Wylie noticed that the Stingers left 3rd baseman left his base to follow the bunt and was able to slip in to 3rd with a stolen base. Immediately following that, he noticed that the Stinger catcher was next to 1st base after his throw to 1st base. He took off from home plate and slid in safely to win the wild extra inning contest 7-6.
La Crosse moves up to 2-2 in the 2nd half with the win and 19-21 overall. Willmar drops their first game of the 2nd half (3-1). The exciting victory came in good timing because tomorrow begins a 4-game road trip, starting in St. Cloud. Catch the game on the Loggers Radio Network, Eagle 102.7 or the Loggers Radio App for the 6:05 contest. The pregame show starts at 5:30.