Bucks Blank Eau Claire, 5-0

The Waterloo Bucks ended their season-high seven-game losing streak with a 5-0 shutout of the Eau Claire Express on Saturday night (Aug. 6, 2016).

Starting pitcher Brett Solano tossed six shutout innings for the Bucks while Lane Milligan finished with two hits and a home run against his former team.

Three straight hits in the top of the first gave Waterloo an early 2-0 lead. Milligan pulled a single into right field and Tyler Curtis followed with a base hit to right, putting runners at the corners. Adam McGinnis and Brody Weiss each brought home the first run with an RBI single to right before Brody Weiss doubled Waterloo’s lead with a two-out single.

Waterloo (10-20, 32-33) extended its lead to 3-0 with a run in the seventh. Zach Weatherford led off the inning with a walk before moving to second on a groundout to the right side from Milligan. Weatherford then stole third before coming in to score on Curtis’ RBI double to right-center.

The Bucks increased their lead to five on Milligan’s first home run of the season, a two-run blast to right field. Iowa native Kyle Crowl, who drew a lead-off walk, also scored on the play.

Eau Claire (16-13, 41-24) left the bases-loaded twice and ended the night with 11 total base runners.

Solano (6-5) tossed six shutout innings to record his team-high sixth win of the season. The right-hander yielded five hits and four walks while striking out six in the victory. Derek Hendrixson (6) faced the minimum in the eight-out save, striking out three and walking one.

UP NEXT: The Bucks and Express conclude their four-game series on Sunday (Aug. 7) in Wisconsin. First pitch from Eau Claire's Carson Park is at 5:05 p.m.

Waterloo returns to Riverfront Stadium on Monday (Aug. 8) for a two-game home stand against the Thunder Bay Border Cats.

Story Contributor: Jared Schlensky - Waterloo Bucks​