LA CROSSE, WI – If you like a lot of offense in baseball, you loved the double-header action at Copeland Park on Wednesday. If you like a lot of Logger offense in baseball, you were having the time of your life.
In the first game of the day, the Loggers scored the first three of their runs in the bottom of the first. Two runs would score via the walk and the third would score by sacrifice fly. Eau Claire’s big inning would be the third as they also put up three on the backs of two home runs, a two run shot by Tanner Sagouspe and a solo shot by Bronson Rivera. Both teams continued strongly on offense, making the score 5-4 in favor of the Express after three innings.
The Express would stretch the score to 7-4 in the fifth as Camden Ross would hit another home run and Nate Witte would single. Seven runs would be all the Express could muster however. Ethan Frey would drive in two with a single in the sixth to make the score 7-6. Ben Zeigler-Namoa would also single to bring in the tying run. With the bases loaded in the seventh, two hits by pitches in consecutive at-bats would break the 7-7 tie and give the Loggers the lead at 9-7. The Lumbermen would break the game wide-open with runs scored on two wild pitches and a Michael Dixon two RBI single. The score was 13-7 in favor of La Crosse, and that is where it would stay. The Loggers had won the first game of the double-header and looked to take the series just a few hours later.
The second game saw the Loggers score first in the bottom of the first. With his mother in attendance, Ben Zeigler-Namoa laced a double to deep right field to score one run. The score would stay 1-0 until the fourth when Aidan Sweatt would score on a wild pitch after stealing both second and third base, making the score 2-0.
Two errors would allow the Express to tie the game in the top of the fifth, but the tie did not last long. Justin DeCriscio drove in Gable Mitchell after an error put him on to lead off the inning. Then, with the bases loaded, two walks brought another two runs to the plate making the score 5-2. Matthew Piotrowski would then single to drive in two more runs before a throwing error on a fielder’s choice would clear two Loggers off the bases and bring Gable Mitchell to third base. Mic Paul would walk to put runners at first and third. Paul would then successfully steal second and buy time for Mitchell to sprint home and slide in safely. Paul would advance to third base via a balk before running home himself after a wild pitch. Before you could look up the Loggers had scored nine runs in the fifth inning off the back of five hits and two errors. The score was now 11-2.
After the Loggers scored one more in the seventh and the Express claimed two more of their own in the eighth, making the score 12-4, the La Crosse offense once again exploded in the bottom of the eighth. A bases-loaded walk would bring a run in, Mic Paul would single to bring in one, Logger newcomer Michael Dorcean would send a double bouncing off the wall in left-center field to drive in a pair, and Paul and Danny Neri would score on a throwing error. It was all smiles in La Crosse with the score 18-4. Outfielder Michael Dixon pitched a scoreless ninth inning to finish the electric game.
The Loggers improve to 7-1 in the second half and 20-22 overall. They sit a half-game back from first place in the second-half standings. The Express fall to 4-6 in the second half and 24-20 overall. They have already secured their trip to the postseason, but currently sit four and a half games back from first place in the second half. The Loggers will remain in town to face the Duluth Huskies on Thursday and Friday.
