Their odds of winning the first half were heavily stacked against them, but the Eau Claire Express found a way to keep those hopes alive.

The Express delivered with a clutch late-game rally, scoring five times in the eighth inning to down first-place La Crosse 7-3 Friday night at Carson Park.

With the win, before a vocal crowd of 1,434 fans, Eau Claire moved within 2 1/2 games of the Loggers with three games left in the first half.

The Express (17-13) and La Crosse (20-11) were scheduled to meet again Saturday through Monday in Northwoods League baseball play.

“Our guys played with great energy and they were engaged in the dugout,” Eau Claire manager Dale Varsho said. “We had a lot of guys step up and come through.”

Down 3-2 entering the bottom of the eighth inning, the Express came storming back.

Mikey Muniz was down 0-2 in the count before battling back to draw a walk to start the inning.

“Mikey had a really good at bat,” Varsho said. “Great, great at bat by him after struggling in the three at bats before that. That’s what started it for us.”

Muniz’s walk set the stage for a big inning.

Hollon Brock and Jake Busson connected on back-to-back RBI singles before Sawyer Stein delivered the big blow by crushing a two-run triple to right-center field.

Stein worked ahead in the count 2-0 before driving a pitch deep into the gap.

“I got a hitter’s count, and I waited for that fastball. I got it and I was able to capitalize on it,” said Stein, an Eau Claire Memorial grad. “It felt amazing honestly. That was definitely fun. My teammates came through before me and it was nice that I could put the cherry on top at the end.”

Stein, who has committed to the University of Iowa, has come on after a slow start this summer.

“Sawyer is a really good player,” Varsho said. “He does a lot of good things. He can hit with power and he can hit with contact. Right now, he’s trying to figure out how to hit with a wood bat.”

Brock continued to swing a hot bat, knocking in a pair of runs on Friday. He leads the team with a .437 batting average.

“It was a total team effort,” he said. “Mikey drew that leadoff walk and then everyone else stepped up with big hits after that. It was awesome to see.”

Busson earlier blasted a solo home run to left field in the second inning.

“Jake has been working really hard to get some better at bats,” Varsho said. “It is paying off right now. Hopefully, that continues.”

Busson also scored twice and played well defensively at shortstop on Friday.

“It was huge for me to be able to help the team like that. I really felt locked in up there,” he said. “We showed a lot of fight the way we came back. Everybody did their job. We are having a lot of fun right now.”

Eau Claire starting pitcher Hunter Guenther turned in another strong outing, allowing just one run in 5 1/3 innings.

Guenther, from Gilmanton, struck out six batters and walked four.

“The first inning was tough for him,” Varsho said. “The second was a little better, and then the third, fourth and fifth he was rolling. He was really good.”

Reliever Olivier Martel closed out the game for the Express with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. He struck out two of the three batters he faced.

Eau Claire leadoff batter Cade Palkowski was 2-for-4 and scored a pair of runs.

The Express have won three straight games.

“We are playing well and just having fun playing baseball,” Brock said. “When you keep winning, that’s a lot of fun.”