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MENOMONIE (April 12, 2013) - It looks like the UW-Stout baseball team will finally be able to play an outdoor baseball game this season that is north of the Mason-Dixon Line. In a doubleheader series that was scheduled to be the Blue Devils' home opener, Stout will head to UW-Oshkosh for four games with the Titans, April 20 and April 21. Stout has not played a game since March 27 when they dropped a pair of games at the Metrodome to Macalester.
THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The weather has been the topic of discussion for the entire spring schedule. UW-Stout (6-9, 0-0 WIAC) has yet to play a conference game, while some of the WIAC schools have played as many as six conference tilts. The Blue Devils have seen a pair of doubleheaders with UW-La Crosse postponed, one of them twice already, with no make up date yet decided. Stout was scheduled to open the home portion of their schedule this weekend with
UW-Oshkosh (12-3, 1-2 WIAC), but those games scheduled for April 13-14 have been moved to Oshkosh. As of Friday, those games are still scheduled to be played, beginning at noon both days. The Titans were able to get three of their four scheduled games with La Crosse in on their home field last weekend.
THE 2013 BLUE DEVILS: The two losses to Macalester March 27 at the Metrodome dropped Stout three games under .500 for the first time this season. They have lost their last three games, their longest winning or losing streak of the season. The Blue Devils have yet to hold a winning record at any point this season, but have been an even .500 on four separate occasions. Stout was 3-4 on their spring break trip and are now 3-5 in their four doubleheaders at the Metrodome...One key indicator of Stout's success has been their ability to score runs. They are 5-1 when they score six or more runs and 0-7 when they score less than five. When scoring exactly five runs, they have a win and a loss. Stout is batting just under .300 as a team and have accumulated a team ERA of 4.29. Eight Blue Devils are batting over .300 and four pitchers have an ERA below 3.00. Of the eight batters, five have over 20 at-bats, and of the four pitchers, two have pitched 10 or more innings. |
2013 Statistics
PITCHING STAFF: Brad Kohn and
Cody Loertscher have been the primary starters on Stout's pitching staff, but both got some rest during the Macalester doubleheader.
Dan Britts and
Andrew Driessen got the starts in place of Kohn and Loertscher, and neither had a very good night on the mound. Britts allowed seven runs, three earned, in five innings before picking up the loss in the first game, which dropped him to 1-2. In the second game, Driessen was saddled with the loss after allowing four earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. Both pitchers' ERA's rose above 3.00, but remain below 4.00 for the season. Kohn and
Adam Widder are now the only remaining pitchers who have 10+ innings pitched and ERA's below 3.00. Kohn has worked a team-high 22 innings pitched, maintaining an ERA of 1.23 while Widder has an ERA of 2.70 through 10 innings of work.
Kellen Pearson and
Dylan McCormick each have perfect ERA's of 0.00, pitching six and two innings, respectively. Widder is the only Blue Devil with multiple wins this season, earning his first against Hamline in the Metrodome and picking up his second against Utica in Florida.
Ian Schiltz is the only other pitcher with a start on the season, getting the nod in the second game against Utica, in which he got a no decision. Schiltz also has two relief appearances for a total of 5.2 innings pitched.
Nick Lamers has pitched 6.2 innings out of the bullpen, striking out eight batters. He is the only Blue Devil pitcher who has more strikeouts than innings pitched.
HITTING THE BALL: Stout's most consistent hitter this season,
Charlie Meyer, was sidelined for the Macalester series with an injury, but maintains the highest batting average on Stout's roster. Meyer went 5-for-12 on their spring break trip for a .417 clip, which actually dropped his season average to .519. He has taken advantage of his limited at-bats to drive in nine runs with 14 hits on the season.
Mitch LaVelle and
Santiago Morales have combined for 40 hits and 20 runs (both just under 30 percent of the team's totals) and are the only two players to play in every game this season. LaVelle is hitting .386 and has scored 11 runs while Morales maintains a .333 clip and leads the team with 13 RBI.
Nick Nalbach has only seen 11 at-bats, but recorded hits in five of them for a .455 average. He also leads the team in slugging percentage (.727) as three of his hits went for doubles. After leading the team in hitting in Florida (6-for-14),
Jake Lunow stayed hot against Macalester, going 3-for-6 in the two games combined. The hot streak has bumped his season average up to .343.
Brady Burzynski and
Kasey Kruse have taken advantage of limited playing time and are hitting .400 and .368, respectively, on the season. Kruse will likely step into the batter's box in place of the injured Meyer until he returns.
THE TITANS: Second baseman Tyler Kamps is leading the Titans at the plate, hitting at a .486 clip (17-35), with a team-high six doubles. Designated hitter Michael Swift is hitting .419 (18-43) with 14 RBI. Shortstop Michael Polcyn is the third Titan hitting at or above .400 and Polcyn is currently right at the .400 mark (24-60). Senior Bobby Kachel is leading the team in RBI with 22. The Titans have hit seven home runs this year, while giving up only one. On the mound, Joe Pavlovich has made three starts, while Taylor Dittmar and Michael Swift have made two starts. Pavlovich has an ERA of 0.51, while Dittmar is posting a 1.12 and Swift an ERA of 3.38. Pavlovich, with a team-high 17.1 innings pitched, leads the team in strikeouts with 16. |
2013 Titan Statistics
AWARDS AND HONORS: Charlie Meyer was named UW-Stout Athlete of the week, March 19, after starting the first six games of the season with a .600 batting average...
Brad Kohn was named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) pitcher of the week, March 12 after allowing just seven hits and no earned runs through his first 11 innings pitched this season.
COACHES: Toby Gardenhire, son of Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, is in his second season with UW-Stout. Gardenhire coached the Blue Devils to a 17-22 record last year, an improvement from their 12- and 11-win seasons the previous two years.
Gardenhire received his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois in community health in 2005.
ON DECK: The Blue Devils are scheduled to play at UW-Stevens Point, Wednesday, April 17 at 1 p.m., weather and field conditions permitting. Stout is scheduled to host UW-Whitewater, April 20-21, again weather and field conditions permitting.
