LA CROSSE, Wis. — With the bases loaded and one out, Cody Jefferis beat out a throw to home plate in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the La Crosse Loggers a come-from-behind 6-5 victory in front of 2,727 fans on Saturday night at Copeland Park.<\/p>\n
After surrendering a run in the top of the second inning, the Loggers (37-34, 20-15) answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Trey Harris (Arkansas) doubled and came around to score on a sac fly by Cole Elvis (California), and then a two-out double by Jefferis (San Diego) gave La Crosse an early 3-1 lead.<\/p>\n
Bismarck (31-40, 11-24) scored in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to reclaim a 5-3 lead, but only managed five hits on the day against the pitching quartet of Lalo Porras (Lewis Clark State), Jack Filby (UCLA), Matt Richey (Bradley) and Jared Freilich (Penn State).<\/p>\n
Ryan Holgate (Arizona) drove in Jefferis in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut into the Larks’ lead, and back-to-back doubles by Matt Stinebiser (Duke) and Elvis tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth. Freilich set down the Bismarck lineup in order in the top of the ninth, to set the table for the walk-off victory in the ninth.<\/p>\n
Jefferis singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Kyson Donahue (Arizona), and quickly advanced to third on a passed ball. After intentional walks were issued to Holgate and JT Schwartz (UCLA), Harris hit a ground ball to third base, and Jefferis slid under the tag for the final run. Jefferis finished 4-for-5 to raise his average to .310, while Stinebiser collected three hits to improve his batting average to .297.<\/p>\n
The Loggers will wrap up the 2019 season with a 5:05 pm first pitch today against Bismarck.<\/p>\n