La Crosse held off a late rally and completed a two-game series sweep of the Waterloo Bucks at Riverfront Stadium Thursday night.

The Loggers defeated Waterloo 9-6. The setback was the third in a row for the Bucks, who had won nine-straight games before the skid began. The loss dropped Waterloo (16-7) into second-place in the Northwoods League North Division stanings, a half-game behind front-runner St. Cloud.

La Crosse (9-15) took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning. Bucks' starter Jared Crescentini (1-2) hit lead-off batter Kennie Taylor with a pitch. Taylor eventually moved to third, before charging home on a wild pitch.

The Loggers took control of the game with a five-run third inning. David Villar, Taylor, Korey Lee, and Garrett Christman each had run-producing singles. When the frame ended, La Crosse owned a 6-0 advantage.

Dalton Hurd helped Waterloo respond with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. His one-out double scored Deion Thompson, who also reached base on a double. Drew Greenwood also drove in a run on an infield ground out.

The Loggers gradually increased their advantage to 9-2, scoring one run each in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings off of the Bucks' bullpen.

Waterloo narrowed the deficit in the eighth inning, scoring four runs while taking advantage of two La Crosse errors. With the bases loaded, Logger third baseman David Villar misplayed a routine ground ball that allowed one run to score. Josh Elvir drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Grant Hawkins followed with an RBI double to right-center field. A second La Crosse error allowed another run to score, cutting the margin to 9-6.

The momentum the Bucks built, though, didn't continue. They were retired in order in the ninth inning.

UP NEXT: After playing 16 of their first 23 games at home, Waterloo hits the road for the next four. The Bucks open a two-game series at Duluth on Friday (June 23).

Story Contributor: Danny Frey - Waterloo Bucks

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