LA CROSSE, Wis. – Some nights, it’s just not your night. That was the case for the Waterloo Bucks on June 14, 2022.

Despite the La Crosse Loggers (6-9) arriving back in La Crosse at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning coming back from a road trip to Bismarck, fatigue did not seem to affect them at all as they were able to score 10 runs in the first three innings.

Meanwhile, the Waterloo Bucks (2-11) fresh off a two-day break were well-rested, but it didn’t seem to matter much as until the ninth inning the Bucks could only muster two runs on five hits.

La Crosse had eight of their nine position players record a base hit in the endeavor as the Loggers would go on to win 18-4. The most lopsided loss for the Bucks since 2019.

Bucks starter Campbell Holt only lasted an inning and two-thirds. After pitching a scoreless first inning which included an inning-ending double play on only the third batter faced, things were looking up for Waterloo when they held a 1-0 lead through just one inning.

However, the second is where the wheels would fall off. La Crosse scored nine runs in the inning, the most allowed by the Bucks in an inning this season. The Loggers would go on to add another in the bottom of the third, pushing the home team ahead 10-1 through just three innings.

The Bucks did not go down without a fight. They put up a run in the top of the sixth off a Naighel Calderon RBI groundout, with Calderon making his Bucks debut on the road. It wasn’t much but the momentum was on the Bucks’ side until the seventh-inning stretch.

“Take Me Out to the Ballgame” seems to be a recurring trend when it comes to the 2022 Waterloo Bucks, as typically close road games have been put away in the bottom of the seventh. This phenomenon has now occurred in Eau Claire, Duluth, and La Crosse.

The Loggers plated two in the bottom of the seventh, and six in the bottom of the eighth to ice the already iced game. The eighth featured two home runs by the Loggers, a three-run shot to dead center by Landon Wallace, and a two-run home run two batters later by Emilio Corona, who had come in as a pinch hitter an inning prior.

Despite trailing by a season-high 16 runs, the Bucks didn’t go down without a fight, and after two quick outs on the first two batters of the top of the ninth, the Bucks would reach on the next five batters. They only plated two of those runners, ending the game with the bases loaded, but it showed that despite the record, and despite a 16-run deficit, they won’t go down without swinging the bat.

The Bucks look to rebound from this start to the season by looking for a series split with the Loggers tomorrow at 6:35 p.m. from Copeland Park. You can listen to that game, as well as all Waterloo Bucks road games by following the links at waterloobucks.com.