EAU CLAIRE, WI – It took over five hours and 13 innings, but the La Crosse Loggers defeated the Eau Claire Express by a final of 6-4 in front of 1,498 fans at Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wisc. on Thursday night.
Both teams traded blows for the first five innings as the Lumbermen drew first blood in the first inning. After a two-out single from Donta Williams (Arizona), Harrison Freed (Butler) would reach via an Express miscue that allowed Williams to come all the way around to score to give La Crosse a 1-0 lead.
Eau Claire would respond right away in their bottom half by plating two runs off of Loggers starter Ryan Anderson (Nevada) before Anderson would get out of a bases loaded jam to end the inning.
La Crosse came right back with two more runs in the second to regain the lead thanks to an RBI double from Grant Judkins (Iowa) and a RBI sacrifice fly from Braiden Ward (Washington).
After a scoreless third, Eau Claire would knot the game up at three on a throwing error from Anderson after he caught a comeback liner and tried to double off the runner at third base, only to send the throw into foul territory allowing the tying run to score. But Mike Rothenberg (Duke) would quickly put the Loggers right back on top in the fifth with a laser home run over the right field wall, giving the Loggers a 4-3 advantage.
Zach Pronschinske (UWL) would relieve Anderson in the fifth. After giving up a lead-off double and then a walk, Eau Claire would bring home one on a sacrifice fly to tie the game once again, this time at 4-4.
The score would remain that way until the bottom of the ninth when Eau Claire would load the bases with no one out off of reliever Jon Meyerring (Miami-OH). The next Express batter, Troy Beilsmith (Evansville), would work the count to 3-0 before Meyerring would throw three straight strikes to strike him out before inducing a ground out and a line out to get out of the jam and push the game to extra innings.
After neither team scored in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth frames, Ward would lead-off with a single and eventually come around to score on a RBI sacrifice fly from Freed and Rothernberg would later single in Williams to give the Loggers a 6-4 lead before Chase Whitaker (Merced CC) would slam the door to secure the victory.
The Lumbermen totaled nine hits on the night, led by two-hit nights from Williams, Rothenberg and Judkins. Whitaker earned the win with three innings of hitless and scoreless relief while striking out four.
The same two teams will go at it again on Friday night back up in Eau Claire with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. at Carson Park. Air time on the Logger Radio Network will commence at 6:30 p.m.
