LA CROSSE, WI – The La Crosse Loggers were defeated in the first game of their two-game series against the Thunder Bay Border Cats, falling 12-3 at Copeland Park before a crowd of 1,707.
La Crosse’s starting pitcher, Tyler Albanese (San Jose State), threw for 6.1 innings, conceding 8 runs on 12 hits while striking out 7.
Thunder Bay’s starter, Sean Heppner (University of British Columbia), pitched for 4.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits, with 3 strikeouts.
The Loggers took an early lead in the bottom of the first inning, with an RBI double from Luke Davis (Long Beach City) and an RBI single from Luke Anderson (BYU), bringing the score to 2-0.
However, the Border Cats responded in the top of the second inning with a 3-run home run by Ty Hamilton (Florida Southwestern State), taking the lead.
Thunder Bay extended their advantage in the top of the third inning with a 2-run home run by Zane Skansi (Creighton), making the score 5-2. They added another run in the top of the fifth inning with an RBI single from Duncan Mathews (South Alabama), increasing their lead to 6-2.
La Crosse narrowed the gap slightly in the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run by Case Sanderson (Nebraska), making it 6-3.
However, the Border Cats continued to dominate, adding two more runs in the top of the seventh inning with an RBI single from Cole Ketzner (South Alabama) and an RBI double by Jackson Cooke (UT-Martin), bringing the score to 8-3.
In the top of the ninth inning, Thunder Bay further solidified their lead with a 2-run home run from Jackson Cooke, an RBI single from Alex Urlaub, and an RBI single from Lucas Terilli, resulting in the final score of 12-3.
Reliever Max Ramirez IV (Niagara University) replaced Heppner, pitching 4.1 innings without allowing any runs, giving up only 2 hits, and striking out 6. Ramirez earned his third win of the season.
With this defeat, the La Crosse Loggers’ record stands at 19-10, while the Thunder Bay Border Cats improve to 14-15. The Loggers will look to bounce back in the second game of the series at Copeland Park tomorrow night, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
