Eau Claire, WI – Colin Coonradt goes 3-5 with a three-run home run, and Mitchell Iliff matches him with two long balls of his own to back up Bucks starter AJ Price. Price sets a season high in strikeouts with eight in a Bucks 8-4 win over Eau Claire to split the series.
After Eau Claire’s offense exploded late in the game Tuesday night, the Bucks jumped ahead in the top of the first in game two. Colin Coonradt kicked off the contest with a single, then moved up to second on a wild pitch. During the same at-bat, Zach Davis pushed a single to right to bring Coonradt in to score to put Waterloo up 1-0 right away. One batter later, Mitchell Iliff blasted a two-run home run to left to jump the lead to 3-0.
That was plenty of support for Bucks starter AJ Price. The southpaw clocked in for a gutsy performance. After two strikeouts in the bottom of the first, play was paused in the top of the second inning for 1 hour and 25 minutes. Price came back out to finish five innings of work and reached a season-high eight strikeouts to earn his first win of the season.
After the rain delay, the Bucks offense got right back to work in the top of the second inning. A walk and a hit by pitch put two runners on for Coonradt, who crushed a three-run home run to right-center field to stretch the lead to 6-0. With two outs, Iliff launched another opposite field home run to make it 7-0.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Eau Claire responded. Philip Cheong walked to lead off the inning, then moved up to third on a Hollon Brock double. One batter later, Anthony Martinez drilled a double of his own to right to plate the pair of runners to chip the lead down to 7-2.
In the top of the fifth, the Bucks got a run back. Iliff was hit by a pitch, the moved up to second on a groundout. With two down in the inning, Caleb Parker muscled an RBI single to right to bring Iliff in to make it 8-2.
Although Eau Claire put a run up on a solo home run in the sixth and another tally in the ninth inning, the Waterloo lead was too much to overcome as the Bucks salvage the final game of the series with an 8-3 win.
With the victory, the Bucks go to 15-21 overall and 1-1 in the second half. Waterloo gets an off day tomorrow before beginning a four-game homestand with Thunder Bay on Friday, July 3rd at 6:35 pm.