Blue Devil baseball splits with fifth ranked Whitewater, win series opener

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  | UW-Stout 3, UW-Whitewater 1 | UW-Whitewater 4, UW-Stout 3

WHITEWATER (April 26, 2014) - UW-Stout split a pair of nail-biters at fifth ranked UW-Whiterwater, winning the first game in the top of of the ninth, 3-1, and losing the second, 4-3, in the bottom of the ninth Saturday at Prucha Field.

In the opener, Stout (18-13, 8-8 WIAC) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Ryan Freitag (Jr, Osseo) drove in Nick Nalbach (Fr, Plover), who had reached on a one-out double. The Warhawks (24-5 12-3 WIAC) came back in the botton of the second to knot the score when Trey Cannon drove in an unearned run.

Goose eggs were put up throughout the remainder of the game until the top of the ninth. Charlie Meyer (Jr, Janesville) reached on a single and was moved to second on Charlie Pelzer 's (Sr, Little Canada, Minn) sacrifice bunt. Pinch hitter Kasey Kruse (Jr, Menomonie) delivered a single, scoring Meyer. Kruse came home on Jared Francois 's (Sr, Burlington) double.

Brent Mueller (Sr, Medford) was in fine form on the hill for the Blue Devils, going the distance for the win, striking out six, walking three and scattering five hits. The single run was unearned.

The second game had a similar feel. Stout took a 1-0 lead in the third. Jack Schneider (Jr, Minneapolisl, Minn) hit a one-out double, then came home on Nalbach's single. The Warhawks tied the score in the bottom of the sixth when Nick Kuhlmann drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.

The Blue Devils took the lead back in the eighth inning. Schneider led off the inning with a double, then scored when Nalbach hit a double. Nalbach scored on Meyer's two out single, to give Stout a 3-1 lead.

The Warhawks ended the game in the ninth with a four-hit attack. The Warhawks loaded the bases and Friend and Pierce each drove in a run to tie the score. The Warhawks took advantage of an outfield error to score the winning run.

Nalbach was 2-for-4 in game one and 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI in the second game.

The teams are scheduled to conclude the series, Sunday, April 27 at noon.