WILLMAR, MN – A seven run seventh inning propelled the host Willmar Stingers to an 8-3 victory over the visiting La Crosse Loggers on Friday night in front of 1,071 fans at Bill Taunton Stadium.
Loggers starter Miles Sandum (San Diego) gave La Crosse a tremendous start when he tossed 5.1 innings of one-run baseball, limiting Willmar hitters to six hits while walking three and striking out two. He departed with a 2-1 lead after six innings.
The Lumbermen did break through first in this one with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth thanks to a two-out RBI single off the bat of Luke Rassmussen (Long Beach State) and then Jake Hirabayashi (UCLA) came into score on a wild pitch.
That lead was short lived as Willmar pushed one across in the bottom of the sixth and then broke it open with seven runs in the seventh off of Logger relievers Hunter Davis (Duke) and Jason Seever (Arizona). All seven runs, however, were unearned as two errors and six walks aided in the Stingers rally.
Kennie Taylor (Duke) and Jeremy Ydens (UCLA) led the Loggers offensively with two hits apiece.
Following the series split in Willmar, the Loggers now head north of the border to take on the Thunder Bay Border Cats on Saturday with a 4:05 p.m. (central time) first pitch scheduled. Air time on the Logger Nation Station, the Eagle 102.7 FM, is set for 3:35 p.m.
