The Stingers fell to the Eau Claire Express to complete their four-game homestand.

Willmar got off to a hot start, responding to their two-run deficit by scoring two to tie it up. Quincy McAfee (Pepperdine) and Marcus McCorkle (Georgia Gwinnett) spearheaded the team’s first-inning rally with back-to-back hits.

It is the third game in which McAfee led off with a hit. He also stole two bags and scored a run on a dropped third strike.

Eau Claire tacked on runs in the third, sixth, and ninth innings to win it 5-2.

Tonight’s Center for Diagnostic Imaging player of the game was Braxton Johns (East Georgia). CDI is your local medical imaging provider. It’s your choice where you go for medical imaging, for MRI, CT, mammograms and pain injections, choose CDI. Visit online at myCDI.com/CentralMN.

Johns appeared with three inherited runners in the fifth and nobody out. He forced Eau Claire into a fielder’s choice in which third baseman Nolan Bumstead (CS-Northridge) caught the lead runner. Following the fielder’s choice, Johns struck out two straight batters to hold Eau Claire to a scoreless fifth and keep the Stingers in the game.

The Stingers, now 3-1, travel to Duluth for a weekend series against the Huskies. The Huskies and the Stingers are still tied atop the North Division.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. in Duluth. You can listen live for free at WillmarStingers.com.

The 2017 Stingers season is presented by Marcus Construction. For more coverage of the Stingers, visit the West Central Tribune online at www.wctrib.com.