Baseball: Beetles drop pair to La Crosse Loggers

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The Alexandria Beetles were in the midst of a 14-inning scoreless streak after they dropped their second game in as many days to the La Crosse Loggers on Tuesday night.

The Beetles’ pitching was good enough to keep them in both games, but the bats were not able to come alive as they slipped closer to the .500 mark on the season.

La Crosse 3, Alexandria 0

The Beetles managed just four hits against Loggers’ starter Chris Sale (FGCU), who pitched eight scoreless innings on Tuesday night, en route to a 3-0 win.

Sale only walked three while striking out nine on his way to his second win of the season. Brandon Efferson (Southeastern Louisiana) threw well for Alexandria, allowing just two runs in five innings of work.

The first three Loggers’ hitters reached base in the first inning, leading to the game’s first runs. Derek Melton hit a sacrifice fly which plated the first run, and Wade Gaynor followed in the next at-bat with an RBI single to right field. Tyler Horning (Ridgewater CC) ended the inning with an unassisted double play.

The Loggers held a 2-0 lead through the top of the eighth inning. Alexandria had chances to get on the scoreboard, but left six men stranded including four in scoring position. The Beetles had a runner at third base just once.

Sale was outstanding for the Loggers. At one point, he set down seven in a row. Despite giving up three leadoff base runners, Sale only allowed one extra-base hit, a second inning double by Ryan LaMarre (Michigan).

La Crosse 6, Alexandria 5

La Crosse second baseman Justin Toole broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the ninth with a two out RBI infield single, propelling the Loggers to a 6-5 walk-off victory over the Beetles Monday night.

The game was knotted at five in the fourth inning when the Loggers pushed across a run, erasing the third one-run lead Alexandria held in the game.

Starters Wade Kapteyn (LAC, Evansville) and Justin Jackson (ALE, Sam Houston State) both struggled in the game. Jackson allowed five runs through 3-2/3 innings of work, scattering eight hits while walking four. Kapteyn worked six innings for the Loggers, giving up seven hits and five runs, although only one run was earned. Kapteyn also struck out six in the no decision.

Beetles’ reliever Ben Jenzen (Michigan) made his 2008 debut, throwing the final five innings of the game. Jenzen was phenomenal in his first appearance of the season, yielding just three hits and one run while striking out three, all after spending the day driving to La Crosse to be in uniform by game time.

The Loggers scored three in the bottom of the first to take an early lead. Cory Vaughn hit a three-run home run before an out was recorded, aiding the Loggers to a 3-1 lead.

Alexandria responded with three runs of their own in the top of the second, including a two-run homer by Nathan Carter, who finished the night 4-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and two batted in.

The teams traded one-run innings through the fourth, when Jackson was lifted for Jenzen with the bases loaded and two out. Jenzen got the first batter he faced to fly out to Carter in right field, who made a great diving catch along the right field line.

Stephen Pistoresi earned the win for the Loggers, throwing three innings of scoreless, three-hit relief. Pistoresi ran into trouble in the ninth when the Beetles loaded the bases, but Alexandria failed to capitalize in the inning. Overall, the Beetles left nine runners stranded, eight of which were left in scoring position.

GAME STATISTICS

ALEXANDRIA 000 000 000 2-4-1

LA CROSSE 200 000 01x 3-6-0

ALEXANDRIA HITTING – Josh Upchurch – 1-4; Nathan Carter – 1-3, 2SB; Tim Dellwo – 1-3; Tim Roberson – 0-4; Brian Harrison – 0-2; Ryan LaMarre – 1-4, 2B; Addison Gentry – 0-3; Bryan Holaday – 0-3; Tyler Horning – 0-3; Tyler Horning – 0-3

ALEXANDRIA PITCHING – Brandon Efferson – (LP, 0-2) 5IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 6BB, 2SO; Austin Siwiec – 3IP, 2H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 0SO

ALEXANDRIA 130 100 000 5-10-2

LA CROSSE 301 100 001 6-11-3

ALEXANDRIA HITTING – Josh Upchurch – 0-5, 1 run; Nathan Carter – 4-5, 2 runs, 2RBI, HR; Keith Castillo – 1-4; Tyler Moyneur – 1-4; Ryan LaMarre – 0-5; Ted LeMasters – 0-3; Addison Gentry – 3-4, 1 run, 2B; Dan DeGeorge – 1-3, 1 run; Tyler Horning – 0-4, RBI

ALEXANDRIA PITCHING – Justin Jackson – 3 2/3IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, 4BB, 0SO; Ben Jenzen – (LP) 5IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 3SO

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