La Crosse, Wisc. – The La Crosse Loggers dropped a lone home game, sandwiched between road trips, to the Eau Claire Express, 5-2.
Alex McKenna (Cal Poly) got the Express started with a solo home run deep over the center field with two outs in the first. Eau Clare added another in the 3rd inning. Ripken Reyes (California) singled with an out in the inning. He scored three batters later from 2nd base on a single by Alex McKenna.
Express starting pitcher Michael Gomez (Cal Poly) kept the Loggers scoreless through the first three innings, giving up only two hits. Cullen Large (William & Mary) put the Loggers on the scoreboard with a solo shot for himself to right field.
Ripken Reyes struck again in the 5th with a bloop hit down the right field line that bounced over the Loggers’ right fielder, Griffin Conine (Duke), for a triple. He scored on a single up the middle by Zach Ashford (Fresno State).
Alex McKenna collected his 3rd hit of the game and scored the 4th Eau Claire run on a bloop single by Daniel Herrera (New Mexico JC) that just stayed fair in shallow left field. That gave Eau Claire a 4-1 lead in the 6th.
The Loggers started chipping away at the Express lead in the 8th. Cullen Large added to his impressive night with a leadoff single into center field. He scored from 2nd base on a RBI single by Griffin Conine. Eau Claire escaped runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs on a strikeout and a 4-6-3 double play.
Eau Claire added another run in the 9th inning and coasted to a 5-2 win.
Michael Gomez went 6 strong innings for the Express for the win (1-1). He gave up 1 run on 5 hits. He walked 2 batters and struck out 3.
Nick Raquet (William & Mary) pitched well but still took the loss (2-4). He pitched 5.1 innings, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits. He walked 1 batter and struck out 7 Express hitters.
La Crosse falls to 3-5 with the loss and 20-24 overall. Eau Claire wins their 4th straight game, 6-2 in the 2nd half and 31-13 overall. La Crosse has dropped four straight to the Eau Claire Express this season after winning the season series opener in June.
La Crosse starts a 5-game road trip tomorrow night, not including the 3-day All-Star Break. The Loggers take on the Express from Carson Park tomorrow night at 7:05. Catch the call on the Loggers Radio Network, 102.7 or the Loggers Radio App.
