Baseball: Beetles' losing streak now at five

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The Alexandria Beetles’ losing streak reached five games last Thursday after a 5-1 loss at Wisconsin.

The Beetles are in search of offense after they scored just four runs in their two losses on Wednesday and Thursday.

Wisconsin 5, Alexandria 1

The offense continued to struggle in Wausau on Thursday night as the best team in the Northwoods League took care of business at home, defeating the Beetles 5-1.

Kyle Gumieny (Lamar CC) earned his league leading fifth win of the season in the starting role for the Woodchucks, who improve to 14-3 at Athletic Park.

Matt Grace took the loss for the Beetles, working just four innings in the start.

Wisconsin got on the board early by plating two first-inning runs. Matt Gantner supplied a two-out, two RBI double off of Grace, who allowed four earned runs in four plus innings. Grace would settle down in the third and fourth innings, including striking out the side in the fourth.

A leadoff walk issued on four pitches in the fifth inning knocked him out of the game. Two batters later, Jonathan Kaskow launched a two-run homer off of reliever Ben Jenzen.??

The Beetles mounted a threat in the sixth, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Ryan LaMarre led off the inning with one of four team doubles. LaMarre would score on a Keith Castillo double play grounder, clearing the bases and putting the score at 5-1.??

With the win, Wisconsin improved to a league-best 19-7. The Beetles fell to 12-14. The five-game losing streak is the longest of the year.

St. Cloud 5, Alexandria 3

St. Cloud pounded the ball and Alexandria had limited offense last Wednesday night as the River Bats completed the home-and-home sweep of the Beetles, winning 5-3.

Alexandria scored first by coaxing a walk with the bases loaded and two out in the third inning. However, St. Cloud answered with a three-run fourth inning off of starter Daniel Britt (Elon).

Three straight singles led off the inning, followed two batters later by a two-RBI double by Brian Hernandez that gave the Bats the lead for good.

St. Cloud would add two insurance runs in the eighth inning against Beetles’ reliever Matt Hill (West Alabama).

The Beetles mounted a rally in the bottom of the eighth, but once again the lack of the big hits hindered their chances. ??Four consecutive singles started the inning, doubling the Beetles’ hit count from four to eight.

With one run already in, the bases loaded and nobody out, Andy Cotton bounced into a double play and Eddie Murray grounded out to end the threat.??Xavier Esquivel shut the door in the ninth, picking up his second save in as many nights.

GAME STATISTICS

ALEXANDRIA 000 001 000 1-7-2

WISCONSIN 210 020 00X 5-6-0

ALEXANDRIA HITTING – Ryan LaMarre – 1-4, 1 run, 2B; Bryan Holaday – 1-4; Keith Castillo – 1-4, 2B; Tim Dellwo – 1-3, 2B; Tyler Moyneur – 0-4; Brian Harrison – 1-4, SB; Tim Roberson – 1-3, 2B; Dan DeGeorge – 0-3; Andy Cotton – 1-3

ALEXANDRIA PITCHING – Matt Grace – (LP, 1-1) 4IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 7SO; Ben Jenzen – 2IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 0SO; Greg Smith – 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 2SO; Brian Harrison – 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 1SO

ST. CLOUD 000 300 020 5-11-0

ALEXANDRIA 001 000 020 3-8-2

ALEXANDRIA HITTING – LaMarre – 0-4, BB; Holaday – 1-4, 1 run, BB; Dellwo – 1-4, BB; Roberson – 2-3, 1 run, BB; Castillo – 1-2, 1 run, RBI, 2BB; Moyneur – 1-3, RBI; Harrison – 2-4; Andy Cotton – 0-4; Murray – 0-3, HBP

ALEXANDRIA PITCHING – Daniel Britt – (LP, 0-1) 4IP, 6H, 3R, 2ER, 2BB, 1SO; Matt Hill – 4IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 2SO; Nick Gaudi – 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1SO

Tags: alexandria, beetles, league, sports, baseball, northwoods