LA CROSSE, WI — The La Crosse Steam secured a decisive 10-3 victory over the Minot Honeybees in front of a crowd of 453 at Copeland Park.
The Steam’s starting pitcher delivered an impressive performance, pitching seven innings, allowing two runs, and striking out seven.
The Honeybees’ starting pitcher, Jackie Albrecht, struggled early and was relieved in the first inning by Kierra Fournier after pitching just 0.2 innings on 30 pitches, surrendering six runs on two hits, walking three, and striking out two.
The Steam’s offense ignited immediately, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the first inning. Contributions came from a Teagan Graul RBI single, a Rachel Mori RBI walk, a Sydney Schott 2-RBI single, an Ashley Wolfe RBI walk, a Lindsey Shultz RBI single, and a Calli Janik 2-RBI single.
Adding to their lead, the Steam scored another run in the bottom of the fourth inning with an RBI single from Rachel Mori, extending their lead to 9-0.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Honeybees managed to score with an RBI single from Kierra Fournier. The Steam responded in the bottom half of the inning with another RBI single from Rachel Mori, making the score 10-1 heading into the seventh.
The Honeybees attempted a comeback in the seventh inning, scoring two runs on a Shayna Myshrall sacrifice fly and a Caitlyn Dannenfelzer RBI single. However, their efforts were insufficient as the La Crosse Steam secured a 10-3 victory.
With this win, La Crosse improves their record to 2-4, while Minot falls to 1-4. The Steam will return to Copeland Park on Saturday to face the Mankato Habaneros, with the first pitch scheduled for 12:05 p.m.
