LA CROSSE, WI – Looking to snap a four-game losing streak, the La Crosse Loggers would get set for a two-game weekend home series against the Eau Claire Express. The month of July has been filled with closely fought battles, many of the times being decided only by a single run. However, tonight was a different story as the Loggers ran away from the Express in a 12-4 win.
On the mound for the Loggers tonight was right-hander Peter Hamot (Lewis). In 5.0 innings of work, Hamot allowed four runs on seven hits and collected three strikeouts. This outing pushing him to 1-1 on the season with a 4.09 ERA. A couple of excellent relief performances were given by newcomer, LHP Johnny Croley (Reinhardt), and RHP Andrew Owen (Villanova). Croley would allow no runs on no hits with two strikeouts and Owen allowed no runs on three hits with one strikeout both in 2.0 innings of work. The Loggers' offense would hand the loss to RHP Aaron Shortride, as they scored seven runs on eight hits off of him.
It was as if the Northwoods League Homerun Derby was happening early at The Lumberyard tonight. There were six total homeruns hit throughout the night with five of those comming off Logger bats. Every single Logger had at least one hit tonight at the plate as they totaled 15 hits as a team. Leading the way at the plate tonight were Kennie Taylor (Duke) going 2-for-4 with two RBI from a two-run blast over left field fence, Jorge Gutierrez (Texas A&M) going 2-for-5 with three RBI thanks to a three-run shot over the log cabins in right field, and Korey Lee (California) went 2-for-5 with three RBI from a three-run homerun to straight-away center field. The Logger bats created fireworks during the game, much like the ones that we saw during our post-game FIREWORKS EXTRAVAGANZA presented by AmericInn!.
The La Crosse Loggers will have a rematch against the Eau Claire Express starting at 5:05 PM tomorrow evening! It is SUPER HERO NIGHT presented by WESTERN TECHNICAL COLLEGE! Come dressed as your favorite super hero and pay tribute to our police and firefighter heroes! Sundays are for "Baseball Bingo" with KWIK TRIP. The first 500 fans will receive a bingo card to play with a chance to win great prizes! Gates open at 4:00 PM.