It was a great opening night for the Border Cats as they stopped the Eau Claire Express 7-0 Tuesday before 1,014 fans at Tbaytel Park. The Cats jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning, powered by a grand slam home run off the bat of Grant McKown (Florida Institute of Technology). The native of Lakehead, Florida, had a big night with three hits and five runs batted in. McKown, who also had a triple and single in the win, was named the Northwoods League Player of the Night.
Mike Eagan (Eckerd College) got the win, pitching six shutout innings, while Yuju Suzuki (Concordia University-St. Paul) finished off the five hitter with three scoreless innings for the save. The Cats and Express close out their two-game series with a special "School Day" game today starting at 11:05am.