The La Crosse Loggers dropped game one of a home and home set with the Waterloo Bucks on Tuesday afternoon, losing 6-5 in front of 1,067 fans at Cost Cutters Field at Riverfront Stadium. La Crosse fell to 13-16 on the season and three games out of the first place Bucks with seven games remaining in the first half of the season.
The Lumbermen scored first on a two-run home run to center field from Ryan Holgate (Arizona), his fourth of the season to put the Loggers up 2-0. Holgate owns a .280 batting average and a team-leading 24 RBI after Tuesday’s contest, providing consistent production in the middle of the Loggers’ lineup. After a Bucks’ run in the bottom of the second, the Loggers added two more with an RBI fielder’s choice from Brady Allen (South Carolina) and a base hit from Matt Stinebiser (Duke) to take a 4-1 advantage.
The Bucks would tie the score in the bottom of the third, and the game remained tied until the 7th inning. Brady Allen gave La Crosse the lead on a two-out RBI triple to right field that scored JT Schwartz (UCLA) from first base, earning Allen his 23rd RBI of the season. Waterloo, however, would tie the game in the bottom half and take a 6-5 lead in the next frame off Loggers’ reliever Marius Balandis (St. Louis).
Holgate and Allen each produced multi-hit days, but the Loggers could not extend the game in the ninth inning, falling 6-5. The clubs travel back to La Crosse for a 6:35 PM game at Copeland Park on Wednesday night as the Loggers look to fight back into contention for the first half Great Plains East Division title. Fans are encouraged to wear purple for Paint the Park Purple Night with the Alzheimer’s Association.
