UW-Stout 29, Finlandia 1 |
UW-Stout 6, Finlandia 5 |
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MENOMONIE (April 3, 2010) - UW-Stout took a pair of games against Finlandia University but the Blue Devils had to use different methods to sweep the season home opener.
The Blue Devils (5-6) won the opener 29-1 in record-setting fashion, sending 25 batters to the plate in the first inning while scoring 20 first inning runs, but in the nightcap, Stout needed to come from behind to take a 6-5 win in the bottom of the seventh.
In the first game,
Jon Schoch (So, Chippewa Falls) was 3-for-3 in the first inning with four runs batted in on two singles and a double. Schoch finished the game going 5-for-6 with six RBI.
Jake Duske (So, Montrose, Minn) also had four first inning RBI when he hit a grand slam as the ninth batter in the stanza.
Brian Giebel (Jr, River Falls),
Jesse Brockman (Fr, Wrightstown), Schoch and
Josh Anderson (So, Osseo) each scored three runs in the first inning, while Brockman drove in three runs for the game.
Adam Stuessel (Sr, River Falls) was 4-for-6 in the game with three RBI and four runs scored and
AJ Yusten (So, Zumbrota,Minn) was 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored.
Russ Jiskra (Sr, Hudson) went the distance and gave up the only run of the game in the top of the seventh inning. Jiskra allowed seven hits and struck out five.
Stout set a school record with 29 runs and 26 hits, breaking a 1981 mark of 27 runs against Pearl River and 24 hits against UW-Superior in 1996 and UW-Stevens Point in 2004.
In the nightcap, Stout twice blew close leads, then fell behind in the seventh inning.
The Blue Devils scored single runs in the first and second innings, but Finlandia (3-16) cut the lead in half with a run in the third. Duske gave Stout a 4-1 lead with his second home run of the day, a two run home run in the fourth inning after
Kyle Reich (Fr, Burlington) got on with a double.
Finlandia tied the score with a three-run fifth inning as Steven Hicks drove in two runs with a double and Eric Beauchamp brought in a run on a sacrifice fly. The Lions took the lead in the seventh inning when Joe Barnes smacked an RBI single up the middle after a Stout error.
Brockman reached in the bottom of the seventh inning on a one out single, then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Brockman scored on Schoch's fielder's choice when the throw to the plate went high. Schoch advanced to second on the errant throw, then scored on Stuessel's hit up the middle.
In contrast to the 26 hits of the first game, Stout belted out just six hits, compared to 10 for Finlandia.
Chris Lammert (So, Merrill) picked up the win in relief, pitching 2.2 innings and allowing only two hits.
Stout will host UW-La Crosse, Wednesday, April 7 in the WIAC opener at 1 p.m.
