Blue Devils split doubleheader with Superior

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | UW-Superior 11, UW-Stout 1 | UW-Stout 8, UW-Superior 3 | Archived Video

MENOMONIE (May 2, 2014) - The UW-Stout baseball team got of to a rough start on the afternoon, dropping game one of the doubleheader with UW-Superior 11-1 in eight innings before getting the offense rolling in game two to earn a 8-3 victory and a split on the day.

On a cold, wet day at Nelson Field, the Yellowjackets (17-14, 8-10 WIAC) got off to a fast start, scoring three in the top of the first including two on a Tom Fairbanks homerun.

Behind 3-0 after a half inning, the Blue Devils came out swinging as Brady Burzynski (So, Eau Claire) laced a double to left field and moved over to third on Nick Nalbach's (Fr, Plover) fly out. After Ryan Freitag (Jr, Osseo) reached on catcher's interference, designated hitter Charlie Meyer (Jr, Janesville) hit an 0-2 pitch into right center to bring Burzynski around to score, making it a 3-1 ballgame.

Starting pitchers Brent Mueller (Sr, Medford) settled down after the first, scattering three hits and striking out three over the next four innings. In the sixth though, he ran into trouble as Superior pounded out four hits and scored three runs. The Yellowjackets continued to roll in the seventh, pushing four more runs across to take a 10-1 lead, and then adding another in the eighth to invoke the mercy rule for an 11-1 victory. Travis Elmwood earned the win for Superior, improving to 5-2 on the season.

For Stout, Burzynski finished 2-3 with a run scored and Meyer was 2-4 with an RBI. Mueller struck out six while walking none over 6 2/3 innings of work.

In game two, freshman Zach Carlson (Indian Head Park, Ill.) turned in one of his better pitching performances of his young career, scattering seven hits and three runs, two earned, in a complete game victory. Carlson had four strikeouts and walked just two batters.

After going cold after the first inning of game one, the Blue Devil's offense came alive in game two, racking up 11 hits and pushing eight runs across to run away with an 8-3 win.

Both teams started off slow in the first, going three-up-and-three-down in both halves of the inning. After another 1-2-3 inning for Carlson, Stout got on the scoreboard with a three-run bottom of the second, all with two outs. After Meyer and Charlie Pelzer (Sr, Little Canada, Minn.) flied out to lead the inning, Brett Vavra (Jr, Chippewa Falls) got things rolling with a single. Jared Francois (Sr, Burlington) followed with a sharply hit double to left, scoring Vavra. Jake Lunow (Jr, Princeton) and Jack Schneider (Jr, Minneapolis, Minn.) kept the train rolling with a pair of singles as Francois came around to score on Schneider's hit before Burzynski's single to center plated Lunow.

The Blue Devils added another run in the fourth when Schneider's sacrifice fly brought home Francois.

Carlson cruised through most of the game, setting the Yellowjackets down in order the first four innings before running into a bit of trouble in the fifth. A hit batsman, a walk, and a pair of singles brought home two runs for Superior, cutting Stout's lead to 4-2. The Blue Devils defense also played a huge part, turning three double plays in the game.

Stout would add another in the seventh on a Freitag single that got by the right fielder, allowing Nalbach to score from first to give the Blue Devils a 5-2 advantage. Superior would cut the lead to two again, pushing across another in the top of the eighth, but three insurance runs on an two-RBI double by Nalbach followed by a bases-loaded balk put the game out of reach for the Yellowjackets.

Schneider led the Blue Devils, going 2-3 at the dish with a run scored and two RBI while Nalbach went 1-4 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI. Burzynski was 2-4 with a RBI, Francois was 1-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Lunow finished 2-3 with two runs scored.

The Blue Devils will be back in action tomorrow, Saturday, May 3, when they host UW-Stevens Point in a doubleheader scheduled to start at noon.