A marathon four-hour, 7-minute game that saw 409 combined pitches thrown ended in a 15-9 Waterloo Bucks (17-13) victory over the La Crosse Loggers (13-17) late Wednesday night. With the win and an Eau Claire loss earlier in the evening, Waterloo holds a three-game lead in the Great Plains-East with six games to play.
Bennett Hostetler (3-5, BB, 2 R, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI) opened the game with a solo homer to center in the first inning. La Crosse responded with two in their half, chasing Waterloo’s starter from the game. Tony Jenkins (1-3, 3 BB, 2 R, 2 SB) led off the second with a walk, stole second, moved to third on a Trey Leonard (1-4, BB, R) ground ball then scored on an Alonzo Rubalcaba (3-3, BB, 3 R, HR, 5 RBI, SF) game-tying sacrifice fly. The Loggers reclaimed the lead with a run in the home side, followed by each team throwing up a zero in the third.
Waterloo exploded with four runs in the fourth, as Patrick Ferguson drew a bases-loaded walk on a payoff pitch. Hostetler promptly unloaded the bases with a three-run double to right. La Crosse threw up a four-spot of their own in the bottom of the inning, moving themselves back ahead by a run. Jenkins singled with an out in the fifth, stole second and scored the tying run on a Rubalcaba single, locking the game at 7-7. The Loggers struck for an unearned run off of Alec Holcomb in the sixth, taking the lead and setting the stage for Rubalcaba in the seventh.
The Bucks’ catcher blasted a go-ahead three-run home run to left field, giving Waterloo a 10-8 advantage. Dylan Phillips (1-5, BB, R, 2B, SB) added insurance by doubling in the eighth, stealing third then scoring on an errant throw by the Loggers’ catcher. Waterloo added three in the ninth as Rubalcaba and Alex Ronnebaum (1-3, BB, HBP, 2 R) hit back-to-back singles, followed by Matt Campos (1-3, BB, 2 R, SAC) reaching on a sacrifice bunt with an errant throw that brought in Rubalcaba. Ronnebaum scored on a wild pitch and Hostetler walked two batters later, then Phillips reached on an error that scored Campos. Blake Berry brought in the final tally on an RBI groundout.
Holcomb earned the win with 2.1 innings of two-hit ball, allowing an unearned run while walking two and striking out three. Jimmy Smiley picked up his second hold of the summer, covering 2.0 scoreless and striking out a pair.
Waterloo continues their road trip by opening a two-game set in St. Cloud on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. on the Bucks Radio Network powered by 1650 The Fan.
