WATERLOO, IA – In a closely contested game at Riverfront Stadium, the La Crosse Loggers fell just short, losing 9-8 to the Waterloo Bucks in front of 922 fans.
La Crosse starter Nik Copenhaver delivered 4.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits.
His counterpart, Waterloo’s Kevin Jaxel, pitched 5 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 8.
The Loggers struck early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Matt Miura scored on an error by the Bucks’ shortstop, and Kanon Sundgren followed with an RBI single, driving in Luke Anderson.
La Crosse extended their lead to 4-0 in the third inning, thanks to a 2-run home run by Zach Wadas.
However, Waterloo responded in the bottom of the fourth, as Danny Gavin’s 3-run homer narrowed the gap.
The Bucks then seized the lead in the fifth inning, with a sacrifice fly from Evan Morrison and an RBI single from Charlie Bogue, making it 5-4 in favor of Waterloo.
The Loggers battled back, scoring one run in the sixth and another in the seventh. An RBI groundout by Elijah Ickes and a sacrifice fly by Mitch Wood put La Crosse back on top, 6-5.
Waterloo rallied in the bottom of the eighth, scoring 4 runs. Luke Finn’s 2-RBI single, Cole Smith’s RBI single, and Lucas Moore’s RBI double gave the Bucks a 9-6 lead.
La Crosse mounted a comeback in the ninth, with RBI singles from Matt Miura and Ryan Kucherak, but fell just short with a final score of 9-8.
With the loss, the Loggers drop to 30-32 on the season, while Waterloo improves to 33-28. La Crosse will next head to Fond Du Lac to face the Dock Spiders, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.