Contact: Colton Andresen, Media Relations Coordinator
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Weekend Recap
Familiar names highlight Loggers’ weekend
La Crosse, Wis. – Spring is in the air and our 2018 Loggers did not disappoint baseball fans across the country this past weekend!
Two incoming Loggers middle infielders continue to demonstrate what they can bring to Copeland Park this summer after strong weekend performances in the loaded Pac-12 Conference. Freshmen Jacob Blas (Arizona) and Kevin Kendall (UCLA) combined to go 16-for-32 with three home runs and 11 RBIs last week. Blas found himself at the top of the Arizona Wildcats lineup against #2 ranked Stanford after belting a three-run inside-the-park home run to give the Cats the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning on Saturday night. Check out the electrifying video on our Twitter account, @LoggersBaseball! The spark-plug shortstop collected five hits in the series against Stanford and is now batting .280 with a .393 on-base percentage in 28 games so far this season.
Blas’s future Loggers teammate Kevin Kendall had yet another impressive week for the UCLA Bruins, collecting ten hits over 18 at bats last week, including home runs in back-to-back games in UCLA’s series sweep of USC over the weekend. Kendall blasted a three-run homer down the line in game one, the highlight of his 3-for-5, four RBI day. The left-handed swinging shortstop followed with a solo shot in game two, collecting four hits in five at bats and scoring four runs for the red hot Bruins. Kendall continues his emergence at the top of the lineup and is now batting .349 with a .432 on-base percentage in 20 games for the #9 ranked team in the nation.
Tyler Butzin got back on track last weekend as he earned his sixth win of the season in Madonna’s series split with the Indiana Institute of Technology. Butzin shined in game one of the series, a 5-4 victory in which he lasted 7.0 innings and surrendered only one unearned run. The southpaw struck out seven while scattering eight hits for the Crusaders as they improved to 29-13 after the weekend, worthy of receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Poll.
Garret Price has been nothing short of spectacular all season long for the 24-14 Liberty Flames. Since joining the starting rotation three appearances ago, Price has posted a perfect 3-0 record with a microscopic 0.90 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 20.0 innings of work. In his latest outing on Friday night, Price tossed 6.0 strong innings allowing one run while scattering seven hits and striking out eight.
Brady Acker improved to 4-0 on the season as the number two starter for the #9 ranked (Division II) Nova Southeastern Sharks. The 6-foot-4 right hander displayed his swing-and-miss ability in game two of the Sharks three-game sweep of Eckerd, striking out 11 batters and allowing just four hits in 6.0 innings of work.
Stay up to date on your 2018 Loggers as we approach Opening Day on May 29th, Roll Logs!
The La Crosse Loggers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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, 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.lacrosseloggers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Loggers as your favorite team.
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