La Crosse evened the series 1-1 after beating the Express 3-2 on Wednesday night in front of 1,434 fans at Carson Park. The Loggers improved to 3-5 to gain sole possession of 3rd place in the Great Plains East Division early this season.<\/p>\n
The Lumbermen scored three early runs on Wednesday night including two in the second inning when Jaxon Shirley (Oklahoma) came across on a wild pitch and an arrant throw from the Express catcher allowed Cole Elvis (California) to come around from second base. La Crosse would tack on a third run in the third inning on a bases loaded walk from Brett Hawkins (Young Harris) that plated Jacob English (South Carolina) to make it 3-0 Loggers.<\/p>\n
La Crosse starting pitcher Matt Kennedy (St. Josephs) turned in 5.0 innings and earned his first victory of the season after he allowed just one run on three hits and struck out five. Jon Meyerring (Miami Ohio) held the Express in check during the middle innings, tossing 2.0 innings and leaving with a 3-2 lead. Right-hander Jared Freilich (Penn State) took over from there and closed the door with 2.0 strong innings to pick up his first save of the season.<\/p>\n
The Loggers were led offensively by Hawkins – 1-for-2, 1 RBI, 2 BB – and Shirley – 2-for-4, 1 R – in the 3-2 victory. La Crosse and Eau Claire return to Copeland Park on Thursday for a modified doubleheader as Tuesday’s postponed game will be resumed prior to the regularly scheduled series finale. First pitch of the resumed game is scheduled for 5:35 PM with gates opening at 4:30 PM and action beginning with two outs in the top of the fourth inning and the Loggers leading 1-0. There will be a 30-minute intermission between games prior to a seven-inning game presented by Champions Riverside Resort to wrap up the four game set.<\/p>\n