EAU CLAIRE, WI – For the second straight night there was a thrilling finish at Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wisc. and for the second straight night the visiting La Crosse Loggers came out victorious this time by a final score of 7-6.<\/p>\n
It was the hosts who jumped out first in this one when Eau Claire pushed across two runs in the bottom of the first off of Loggers starter Lalo Porras (Lewis-Clark) on a Scott Ogrin two-RBI double to give the Express an early 2-o lead.<\/p>\n
The Lumbermen answered back in the third inning with three runs of their own thanks to a two-RBI single off the bat of Braiden Ward (Washington) and a RBI groundout from Donta Williams (Arizona) to give them a 3-2 lead.\u00a0 But Eau Claire came right back with a run in the fourth to knot the score at three.<\/p>\n
The game would remain tied at three until the eighth when the Loggers loaded the bases with nobody out.\u00a0 After back-to-back strikeouts, Harrison Freed (Butler) lined an 0-1 offering to the right centerfield wall to clear the bases for a three-RBI double.\u00a0 Three pitches later Freed took off stealing for third and forced an errant throw into left field to give La Crosse a 7-3 lead.<\/p>\n
Eau Claire would get one back in the bottom of the eighth on a solo shot from Nick Brueser to make it 7-4.<\/p>\n
The Express would then rally in the ninth plating two runs to cut the lead to just one but reliever John Beuckaleare (Madonna) would strike out the final batter to strand the bases loaded and secure the 7-6 Loggers victory.<\/p>\n
The Loggers scored their seven runs on only four hits, but they made them count.\u00a0 Freed led the team with three RBI’s while Ward drove in a pair.<\/p>\n
La Crosse will now return home to host the Mankato MoonDogs on Saturday night.\u00a0 Gates open at 5 pm with the first pitch set for 6:05 p.m. on “A Tribute to the Special Olympics Night”, presented by Kwik Trip with a Fireworks Extravaganza to follow the ballgame.<\/p>\n