Contact: Colton Andresen, Media Relations
The La Crosse Loggers earned their first victory of the season on Friday night in front of 2,576 fans at Copeland Park. The Lumbermen beat the Duluth Huskies by a score of 7-5 to split the two game set.
Duluth scored first in the top of the inaugural frame on a sacrifice fly after the lead off hitter reached on an error by the second baseman. The Loggers answered quickly with a run of their own after Cody Jefferis (San Diego) led off the inning with a double down the left field line, coming around to score on an RBI single from Jaxon Shirley (Oklahoma).
La Crosse would take the lead in the next inning on a 2-RBI double from Jefferis, nearly identical to his two-bagger in the first inning. Jefferis had an outstanding night at the plate, reaching base five times after going 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles and three walks. The Lumbermen added three more in the 4th to extend their lead to 6-1 as Brady Allen (South Carolina) drove in Brett Hawkins (Young Harris) before TJ Byrd doubled in Allen and Jefferis with a blast to deep right-center field.
Starting pitcher Jack Ferguson (Madonna) delivered just what the Loggers needed on Friday night, tossing 6.0 strong innings of five-hit baseball and surrendering just one earned run while striking out five. The Michigan born junior commanded the strike zone well in his first outing of the season, earning the victory against the first place Huskies. Southpaw Tyler Shingledecker picked up his first save of the season after striking out a pair in 1.1 innings to close out the victory.
La Crosse (1-3) will face the Willmar Stingers (4-0) on Saturday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 PM in the first of a two game home set.
