La Crosse, Wisc. – The Loggers swept Thursday’s doubleheader against Thunder Bay, taking Game 1 by a score of 4-1 before securing a 7-4 victory in Game 2.
Game 1 began as a pitcher’s duel, with Tristan Dietrich (Liberty) matching zeros with the Thunder Bay starter through the first three innings. The Border Cats struck first on a solo home run in the top of the fourth, but the Loggers answered immediately. Jake Quinn (St. Thomas) launched a two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning to put La Crosse in front, 2-1.
Neither team scored in the fifth before Nicholas Mazzotta (Wagner) delivered an RBI double in the sixth, bringing home two insurance runs to extend the Loggers’ lead to 4-1. Christian Banda (Oral Roberts), who entered after Dietrich exited following a comebacker, closed out the game to earn the save and preserve the win for La Crosse.
The offense wasted no time in Game 2. Leadoff hitter Kelsen Johnson (Georgia Southwestern) reached after being hit by a pitch and later came around to score in the first inning, giving the Loggers an early 1-0 advantage.
Joey Senstock (Nebraska) led off the second inning with a solo home run before Lukas Buckner (Coastal Carolina) added another run on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. The Loggers broke the game open in the fourth when Logan De Groot (Northwestern) crushed a three-run home run to right-center. Later in the inning, Eason Hurd (Madison College) added a solo homer of his own, extending the lead to 7-0.
Thunder Bay responded with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to make things interesting, but the Loggers’ bullpen shut the door. Mazzotta took the mound and recorded the final six outs for a two-inning save, striking out four batters to seal the 7-4 victory and complete the doubleheader sweep.