La Crosse, Wisc. – The La Crosse Loggers defeat the Rochester Honkers 9-6 in front of over 1700 at Copeland Park to split the 2 game series.
The Honkers bats stayed hot, getting on the board first scoring 4 runs in the top of the second inning via a 2 RBI double and 2 run homerun. The Lumbermen would respond with a 2 run homerun of their own thanks to Xavier Esquer (Butler).
It would be a scoreless next two innings before the Loggers would take the lead in the 5th. Savion Flowers (Sacramento State) would hit his first homerun at Copeland this season, scoring 2, followed by a sacrafice fly ball that would put the Loggers ahead.
Rochester would force another lead change in the 7th, hitting another 2 run homerun, putting them up by 1. The score fluctuations would not stop there, as the Loggers would bat through the lineup in the bottom of the frame, taking the lead back via Nicholas Mazzotta (Wagner) 2 RBI single for his first hit as a Logger. 2 more runs would come across from a Ethan Clauss (LSU) RBI walk and a past ball scoring another putting the Loggers up 9-6.
Christien Banda (Long Beach State) would come in to pitch looking for the extended save, striking out the side in the 8th. He would complete the save in the 9th securing the win for La Crosse, moving them to 5-3 for the second half.
Impressive performances include Xavier Esquer and Savion Flowers for their 2 run homeruns, along with Nicholas Mazzotta for his go ahead 2 RBI single, and Christien Banda for his extended save.
The Loggers will stay at home and play the Eau Claire Express tomorrow night for a 5:05 game. James Whitaker (Northwestern) is expected to start for the Loggers and continue the winning streak.