Eau Claire, WI – On Wednesday, July 30, the Waterloo Bucks squandered a five-run lead at Carson Park to lose the series finale 6-5 to the Eau Claire Express.
With a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth, the Bucks retired two out of the first three batters of the frame. Needing just four more outs before Eau Claire could score four runs, Waterloo squandered their advantage. It took the Bucks four arms to record the final out of the inning and escape the eighth. Before the frame ended, the Bucks fell behind 6-5.
Aidan Elfering delivered his third consecutive quality start by hurling seven innings of four-hit baseball while allowing just two walks and one run with three strikeouts. The righty now leads the Bucks all by himself with the most quality starts of 2025 at four.
Jimmy Nugent opened the scoring at the beginning of the fourth with a deep fly ball that cleared the left field wall for his ninth home run of the season. Larry Edwards batted in two, and Cole Smith added in the only other Waterloo RBI on a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
With his steal of third in the bottom of the seventh, Edwards has now stolen 53 bases on the year, bringing him within two of the single-season Northwoods League record. He also earned a game-high three hits to extend his on-base streak to 23 games. Now, he is three contests shy of tying Jake Slade for the longest on-base streak of the season for Waterloo.
Caleb Parker scored a run and reached three times with two hits, and Patrick Mendiola reached in four out of five trips to the plate with a base hit and three walks.
The Bucks conclude their road trip tomorrow with a 6:35 pm (CDT) game against the La Crosse Loggers at Copeland Park.