WATERLOO, IA – The La Crosse Loggers kept their winning ways going on Sunday afternoon when the topped the Waterloo Bucks 6-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo, Iowa.
The Lumbermen wasted no time getting to work in this one as they jumped on Bucks starter Aidan Elfering with a pair of tallies in the top of the first inning. Cooper Brass (New Mexico) walked to lead-off and later came around to score on a Derek Mitchell (LSU) sacrifice fly before a Matt Miura (Hawaii) RBI single ran the score to 2-0 before the Bucks came to bat.
Loggers started Logan Runde (Florida International) settled in right away and held the Bucks scoreless through the first three frames while La Crosse continued to add to their lead. After back-to-back singles from Brass and Zach Wadas (TCU) in the top of the third, Miura walked to set the stage for teammate Elijah Ickes (Hawaii) who dropped a 2-RBI single into right-centerfield to extend the Loggers lead to 4-0.
An inning later, La Crosse would tack on one more off the bat of catcher Jack Collins (Long Beach State) who blasted his first home run of the summer, extending the lead to 5-0.
Waterloo would respond in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of runs to cut the deficit to 5-2 before the teams each traded a run in the fifth to keep the Loggers lead at three, which is where it would remain for the rest of the contest.
Will Girardi (UNLV) would come on to relieve Runde in the fifth and go on to toss four innings in relief, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out two to earn the win. Casey Kowalzyck (Iowa Western) then came on in the ninth to close it out and secure his first save of the summer.
Six of the nine Loggers starters recorded hits on the afternoon, led by Ickes two-hit, two-RBI performance.
With the win La Crosse improved to 5-2 and with the loss Waterloo fell to 1-6.
The same two teams will meet again on Monday night in Waterloo with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch slated. Casey Burfield (Nevada) will make his second start of the summer for the Lumbermen.
