La Crosse, Wisc. – The La Crosse Loggers beat the Waterloo Bucks 6-5 in front of over 2,000 faithful fans at Copeland Park.
Tommy Bridges (Northwestern) started on the mound for the Loggers and opened the game with 2 scoreless innings. The Loggers offense would score the first runs in the bottom of the second, as Eli Small (Kent State) would lead off the inning with a double. Nicholas Mazzotta (Wagner) would swap places with Small, hitting a double himself, plating the first run of the game. A sacrafice bunt and a single from Kelsen Johnson (Georgia SW State) would give the Lumbermen the 2-0 lead.
Bridges would continue to pitch well, reaching the 5th without allowing a run. In that inning the Loggers would score another run, courtesy of a solo homerun from Jake Quinn (St. Thomas). Bridges would finish his day after the 6th, only allowing 2 hits and striking out 7 in his outting. La Crosse would add to their lead as two walks with the bases loaded would put them up 5-0.
Both teams had went scoreless in the 7th, before Waterloo rallied to score 5 runs in the top of the 8th from several hits including a 3 run homerun to tie it. The Loggers did not let that rattle them, as Jake Quinn would get on base to lead the inning off. A stolen base, sacrafice bunt, and sacrafice fly ball would bring Quinn around to score, putting La Crosse up 6-5 heading into the 9th.
Caden Wilson (Mount Mercy) would come in looking for the save, and a despite walking a runner, would strikeout the final two batters to secure the victory.
Tommy Bridges highlights the impressive performances, as his 6 shutout innings, 7 strikeouts, and only 2 hits allowed earned him a quality start. Offensively includes Sebastian Hurtado (Central Florida) and Eli Small who had two hits each, Savion Flowers (Sacramento State) who had 3 RBIs, and Jake Quinn for his solo homerun and game winning run.
The Loggers will play the Thunder Bay Border Cats in a double header tomorrow night. The first game is set to start at 5:35 as the Loggers look to keep their hot streak alive.