Express Split Doubleheader with Hot Tots
July 9, 2025 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Eau Claire Express News Release
Eau Claire, Wis. - It all ended even after a long day of baseball at Carson Park as the Express and the Hot Tots split a doubleheader one game apiece.
Eau Claire cruised to a 5-1 victory in the morning game on the back of a strong performance by its pitching staff before falling to Minot 11-6 in the nightcap. The 1-1 day moved the Express to 5-5 in the second half, still 3.5 games behind division-leading Duluth.
Minot jumped ahead in the first game with a run in the second inning, but that was the only tally the visitors would get in the game. Connor Lovin (Dodge City CC) worked 4.1 innings of one-run baseball on five hits while striking out five, just what the Express needed to begin the two-game day.
The Eau Claire offense finally got going in the fourth inning as Nick Mascaro (Cal State Bakersfield) got his team on the board with a sacrifice fly to right before Vidal Colon (Illinois-Chicago) gave the Express the 2-1 lead with an RBI single. That would hold as the go-ahead run throughout the rest of the game.
The Trains extended the advantage in the sixth inning with a trio of insurance runs. Three batters reached in the bottom of the order to load the bases for leadoff hitter Alex Hendrickson (St. Thomas), who grounded out to second base to drive in the first run of the inning. Two pitches later, outfielder Marcelino Alonso (Indiana State) singled sharply up the middle to score two more and put the Express ahead comfortably with the 5-1 lead that would hold for the remainder of the game.
Zach Diver (Doane), Austin Steeves (Stanford) and Dylan Dickert (Montevallo) each pitched well out of the bullpen, with the trio combining for 4.2 excellent relief innings only giving up two hits amongst them.
Game 2 did not go as planned for the hosts as Minot scored early and often to win comfortably. The Hot Tots scored two in the first inning off starting pitcher Otto Franz (Concordia) and continued to add on throughout the game, with a five-run sixth inning blowing the game open in the visitors' favor.
McGwire Turner (Montevallo) hit a solo home run in the second inning to cut the Minot lead in half 2-1, but the Hot Tots quickly responded with two more runs in the third to go ahead 4-1. The Express responded once again with a run in the bottom of the frame on a sacrifice fly from Sam Erickson (Texas A&M) that made it 4-2, but ultimately the big sixth inning for Minot did Eau Claire in.
Alonso and Quinton Coats (Cincinnati) added an RBI each in the sixth and eighth innings respectively and both Adam Salazar (Cal State Bakersfield) and JJ Moran (Stanford) plated runs in the ninth, but it was too little too late for the Express as Minot held on to win 11-6. Kale Hopke (Miami (OH)) was the bright spot on the mound for Eau Claire as he went 1.1 innings without giving up a hit and striking out three in the eighth and ninth frames.
The Express head to Rochester each of the next two days for a pair of road games against the Honkers before finishing the pre-All Star break schedule with two games in Thunder Bay over the weekend.
Northwoods League Stories from July 9, 2025
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