Jun. 25—The Eau Claire Express let one opportunity to score the winning run from third base slip on Thursday night.
They weren’t going to let it happen twice.
Nick Marinconz guided a walk-off single into left field to score Drew Lechnir, giving the Express a 3-2 win over La Crosse in 10 innings at Carson Park.
With the game tied at 2-2, the Express got the winning run to third base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth but couldn’t score it. Given another chance in the 10th, they made the most of it.
With Lechnir beginning on second base to start the extra inning, the Express tried to bunt him to third. His twin, Zach Lechnir, was hit by a pitch while trying to bunt, and Ryan Lin-Peistrup followed with a bunt single to load the bases with no outs.
Marinconz golfed a low 1-2 pitch past the glove of La Crosse third baseman Ryland Zaborowski to send Eau Claire home happy.
“I’m just trying to put the ball in play when I’m down in the count like that,” Marinconz said on the Northwoods League broadcast following the game. “Just put the bat on the ball, put it in play. That’s it.”
The Express kept the tie intact in the top of the 10th thanks to a big throw from catcher Omar Gastelum. He cut down the Loggers’ go-ahead runner when he tried to steal third base with one out.
La Crosse broke a scoreless tie by plating two runs in the top of the eighth. The Express had an immediate answer though, scoring a run on a fielder’s choice and tying it on a single by Marinconz.
“(I was) not trying to do too much,” Marinconz said. “Luckily he threw me two fastballs. The second one was over the plate and I just put a good swing on it.”
Marinconz finished with three hits.
Eau Claire got a stellar start from Garrett Reisz, who worked seven innings of scoreless baseball. He held the Loggers to two hits and struck out four.
“I felt good,” Reisz said. “I felt like the fastball command was a lot better than it has been in the past, and that’s kind of what I’ve been working on.”
Eau Claire improved to 9-16 with the victory, and hosts La Crosse again on Friday night before visiting Rochester for a two-game set on Saturday and Sunday.
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Eau Claire 3, La Crosse 2 (10 inn.)
Loggers;000;000;020;0;— 2 5 1
Express;000;000;020;1;— 3 6 1
WP: Nick Herold (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K, 0 BB). LP: Jared Freilich (1.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 K, 1 BB). Leading hitters: Eau Claire: Nick Marinconz 3-5 (2 RBI), Alejandro Macario 1-3 (2B).