Contact: Colton Andresen, Media Relations
The La Crosse Loggers dropped their home opener 14-6 to the Waterloo Bucks in front of 3,209 fans at Copeland Park on Logger Dog’s Reading Club night at the ballpark.
Waterloo jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning after a potential inning-ending double play resulted in an arrant throw that enabled Matt Campos to score the game’s first run. The Loggers answered back quickly with two runs of their own after a pair of bases loaded walks by Brady Allen (South Carolina) and Kyson Donahue (Arizona) in the bottom of the first.
La Crosse’s early lead would not last long as a 2-RBI single from lead-off hitter Mike Nyisztor put the Bucks back on top in the second frame. An RBI single by Cole Brooks in the third would extend the Bucks’ lead to 4-2.
The Loggers would pull within one run in the bottom half of the frame after Brady Allen knocked in his second RBI of the game with a base hit up the middle. However, a 4-3 game quickly turned into a 12-3 game after the Bucks plated two runs in the fifth and six runs in the sixth.
With the score 12-3, another pair of bases loaded walks by Adam Christianson (Illinois Central CC) and Kyson Donahue trimmed the deficit to 7, but the Loggers would strand the bases loaded for the third time in the game.
In a game that saw 24 combined walks and 20 combined strikeouts, the Loggers could not capitalize on the free base runners as they left a total of 13 on base in the 14-6 loss.
Loggers’ starting pitcher Zach Pronschinske (UW-La Crosse) was tagged with the loss after surrendering four earned runs on three hits and five walks in 3.0 innings of work. The Loggers were led offensively by Kyson Donahue who reached base in all five plate appearances including four walks, a triple, and two RBI.
La Crosse (0-2) will look to get on track Thursday evening in the first of two against the Duluth Huskies (2-0) on the first Throwback Thursday of the season at Copeland Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM with gates opening at 5:30 PM on Team Poster Night presented by One Trust Real Estate.
