Wausau, WIS – Nick Loftin’s two-run blast in the bottom of the eighth gave the Wisconsin Woodchucks a 2-1 comeback win over the Battle Creek Bombers in a crucial South Division matchup at Athletic Park of two teams that entered the contest tied for second place.

The Bombers took a 1-0 lead in the third, but Chucks’ starter Jake Gross held firm from there, giving up only two hits and one run through five, while striking out two.

Joey Hennessey kept the Bombers in check through the eighth, striking out two in his three innings of work.

After the first two Chucks were retired in the bottom of the eighth, pinch hitter Peter Ahn laced a double to the right-center field gap.  Loftin followed with the heroics on a home run over the left field wall, giving the Chucks a 2-1 lead.

The Bombers got the first two runners on base in the ninth against Chucks closer Lenny Gwizdala, but he shut the door from there to earn his ninth save.

Top Performers

Woodchuck pitchers allowed only four hits in the game, with Hennessey earning his second win with three scoreless innings of relief.

Cooper Swanson, along with Ahn and Loftin’s back-to-back hits in the eighth, recorded the three hits for the Woodchucks in the game.

Box Score

Game Date: 07/18/2018
Battle Creek Bombers  1 AT Wisconsin Woodchucks  2

                                 YTD                                   YTD
Battle Crk         AB  R  H BI   AVG  Wisconsin          AB  R  H BI   AVG
Brown, M RF         3  0  0  0  .284  Loftin, N SS        4  1  1  2  .289
Swiss, J 3B         4  0  1  1  .349  Valdes, J 1B,C      3  0  0  0  .229
Henderson, C 1B     3  0  0  0  .314  Shelby, J RF        3  0  0  0  .301
Gartner, Z DH       4  0  1  0  .313  DeLoach, Z LF       3  0  0  0  .336
Baker, W LF         4  0  0  0  .293  Alexiades, R CF     2  0  0  0  .277
Thomas, J CF        4  0  1  0  .244  Swanson, C DH       3  0  1  0  .228
Tirotta, R 2B       3  0  0  0  .224  Broussard, B 2B     2  0  0  0  .300
Jones, M C          2  1  0  0  .094  Duddleston, T 3B    3  0  0  0  .167
 Bailey, C PH       1  0  0  0  .277  Criquet Daniels 1B  2  0  0  0  .187
Trujillo, R SS      3  0  1  0  .284   Ahn, P PH          1  1  1  0  .227
                                       Quinones, I C      0  0  0  0  .146
                   31  1  4  1                           26  2  3  2

Battle Crk           0 0 1   0 0 0   0 0 0 -  1  4  0
Wisconsin            0 0 0   0 0 0   0 2 x -  2  3  4
2B--Swiss, J 3B (4), Gartner, Z DH (5), Ahn, P PH (2). HR--Loftin, N SS
(2). RBI--Swiss, J 3B (12), TOTALS (0), Loftin, N SS  2 (16), TOTALS  2
(0). SH--Tirotta, R 2B (0), Broussard, B 2B (0). E--Loftin, N SS 2 (3),
Valdes, J 1B,C (3), Gwizdala, L P (1). 
LOB--Battle Crk 9, Wisconsin 3. DP--B. Broussard(2B) - N. Loftin(SS) - D.
Criquet Danielson(1B). 
                                                                YTD
                                 IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR     ERA
 Battle Crk
Godfrey, A                      7.0   1   0   0   2   5   0    4.22
Hahn, K (L,2-1)                 1.0   2   2   2   0   0   1    2.48
                                8     3   2   2   2   5   1
 Wisconsin
Gross, J                        5.0   2   1   1   5   2   0    3.46
Hennessey, J (W,2-2)            3.0   1   0   0   0   2   0    4.50
Gwizdala, L (S,9)               1.0   1   0   0   0   0   0    0.64
                                9     4   1   1   5   4   0
SO--Henderson, C, Gartner, Z, Baker, W 2, DeLoach, Z, Swanson, C 2,
Duddleston, T, Criquet Danielson, D. BB--Brown, M 2, Henderson, C, Jones,
M, Trujillo, R, Valdes, J, Alexiades, R. BF--Godfrey, A 24 (195), Hahn, K 5
(133), Gross, J 22 (179), Hennessey, J 10 (87), Gwizdala, L 5 (58).
P-S--Godfrey, A 100-55, Hahn, K 19-15, Gross, J 91-54, Hennessey, J 35-19,
Gwizdala, L 16-10. 
T--2:29.  A--1771

Weather: 77 degrees, Partly Cloudy
Plate Umpire - Travis Thompson (#35), Field Umpire #1 - Dylan Callahan (#13)