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WILLMAR — The Willmar Stingers battled back from an eight-run deficit , but it wasn't enough.
A 10-9 lead heading into the ninth inning against Eau Claire didn't hold as the Express scored three runs in the final frame to earn a 12-10 victory Wednesday evening before 1,406 fans at Bill Taunton Stadium.
The Express (2-1) earned their three runs in the final frame from a bases loaded walk, a wild pitch, and an RBI single from Charlie Szykowny to overcome the 10-9 deficit against the Stingers (1-2).
With bases loaded and no outs for the Stingers' Brett Bateman, a wild pitch during his at-bat scored Nick Terrell to knot the game at 9-9 in the eighth inning.
Bateman then earned a walk and a Tim Pokornowski single later brought home Kyle Payne to give the Stingers their first lead of the game since the third inning at 10-9.
The Stingers continued to battle their way back in the eighth inning to bring home Elias Stevens to cut the gap to 9-8.
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With the game progressing into the sixth inning, the teams combined for nine runs in the frame as Willmar started to claw their way back into the game scoring six of those runs to cut Eau Claire's lead to 9-7.
As Eau Claire's starting pitcher Ricky Apodaca exited the game after five innings pitched and one earned run against, the Stingers brought their two hits in the column up to seven in the sixth inning against Adam Stanton.
Terrell and Aidan Byrne highlighted the six-run inning for Willmar as the duo each recorded two RBI's on singles that reached right field.
After struggling to figure out Willmar starting pitcher Tucker Novotny, the Express scored a whopping six runs in the fourth inning, including two unearned runs.
Joshua Robinson highlighted the six-run fourth inning by Eau Claire as he hit a two-run double.
Novotny started off strong through the first three innings of play. He held the Express' first nine batters to zero hits and recorded two strikeouts.
Willmar opened up the scoring in the second inning as Terrell brought home Sam Daly on a sacrifice fly.
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Eau Claire 12, Willmar 10
Eau Claire 000 603 003-12 10 3
Willmar 010 006 120-10 14 1
Hitting - Eau Claire: Clay Conn 2-5 r rbi-2 bb, Cole Conn 1-6 rbi, Charlie Czykowny 1-5 r rbi-2 sf, Sam Kuchinski 1-3 r rbi bb-2 hbp, Sam Hunt 1-4 r rbi bb, Ben Taxdahl 0-4 r rib hbp, Tanner Marsh 2-4 r-2 rbi-2, Kevin Tuttle 1-3 r-3 rbi bb, Joshua Robinson 1-3 r-2 2b rbi-2 bb-2 … Willmar: Aidan Byrne 2-5 rbi-2, Brett Bateman 1-4 r bb, Elais Stevens 2-r 4-2 hbp, Drey Dirksen 1-4 r 2b rbi bb, Tim Pokornowski 3-5 r rbi-2, Sam Daly 1-4 r-2, Nick Terrell 2-4 r-2 rbi-3, Kyle Payne 2-4 r
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Eau Claire: Ricky Apodaca 5-2-1-1-0-3, Adam Stanton 1-6-6-5-1-1, Ethan Louthan 1-5-3-3-2-1, Isaiah Katz (W, 1-0) 2-1-0-0-0-5 … Willmar: Tucker Novotony 4-3-6-4-1-1-5, Will Roguske 2-4-3-3-2-0, Andrew Baumgart 1.2-2-0-0-00-0, Logan Samuels (L, 0-1) 0.2-0-3-3-5-1, Mitch Gutnecht 0.2-1-0-0-0-1
