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)