Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 |
UW-Stout 3, Bethel University 1 |
Bethel University 7, UW-Stout 5
MARION, Ill. (March 8, 2014) - UW-Stout got two good starting pitching performances and five RBI from
Nick Nalbach (Fr. Plover) in a split with Bethel University Saturday at Rent One Park. Stout won game one 3-1 and lost game two 7-5.
Both teams got strong pitching performances in game one.
Brent Mueller (Sr. Medford) dueled with Joe Zorn for four innings before Bethel pushed a run across in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from Jarad Watts. That would be the only run Bethel would get the rest of the game.
The Blue Devils took the lead back in the top half of the sixth inning on an RBI sacrifice fly by
Taran Tierney (Fr. Appleton) and a two run double by Nalbach. Mueller went five strong innings earning the win. He gave up five hits, collected three strikeouts with one walk and no earned runs.
Andy Peterson (Fr. Stillwater, Minn) earned the save, working the final two innings allowing only one base runner. Nalbach lead the offense, finishing 2-3 with two RBI.
Stout got another strong start on the mound in game two from
Zach Carlson (Fr. Indian Head Park, Ill). Not only did Carlson not give up a run through the first five innings, he didn't allow a base runner to reach second base. The sixth was a different story as the combination of Carlson, Peterson and
Hayden Bowe (Fr. Eau Claire), walked four batters, hit two more and gave up a single to allow six runs. Bethel added one run in the seventh when they scored on a wild pitch by
Cody Loertscher (Sr. Rib Lake).
Stout scored one time in the first, third and fifth innings of game two. In the first Nalbach got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score
Brady Burzynski (So. Eau Claire). In the third a Nalbach RBI single scored
Ryan Freitag (Jr. Osseo) who had reached via walk. In the fifth Nalbach singled in Freitag again for his third RBI of the game. After relinquishing the lead in the sixth Stout scored two more in the bottom of the seventh on a Freitag home run. It wouldn't be enough as the game would end 7-5.
Carlson collected the loss going 5.1 innings, giving up three hits and two earned runs. Nick Grachek got the win for Bethel. Nalbach finished 2-3 with a walk and three RBI in game two. Freitag finished game two 3-3 with a walk, double, homerun, two RBI and three runs scored.
The opening game win was Stout's first season-opening win since the 2009 season.
In a scene familiar to last season, before the first game, which was pushed back three hours, UW-Stout and Bethel University players helped to clear the field of snow. Bethel had a doubleheader scheduled for Friday which was canceled. The Royal players spent part of Friday clearing snow from the field. The Marion, Ill, area had five inches of snow the previous Monday.
Stout wil play Bethel Sunday in a single game scheduled for 9 a.m., then will play NAIA member Robert Morris University at 11:30 a.m.
