Baseball Preview: Stout travels to UW-La Crosse for pair of doubleheaders

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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (13-8, 1-5 WIAC) will host UW-Platteville (15-7, 6-0 WIAC), Wednesday, April 15 at 1 p.m. then will be at UW-La Crosse (12-7, 5-9 WIAC), Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19. UW-Stout takes on what has to be the hottest team in the WIAC in UW-Platteville.. And the Blue Devils have a little recent experience with the Pioneers. Last Wednesday, Platteville took a pair of two-run games here, downing Stout, 8-6, 4-2. The Pioneers come into today's games in first place in the WIAC and are carrying a a school record 12-game winning streak. Platteville's last losses came on March 28 when they lost a pair of games at Benedictine University. Over the weekend, Platteville swept UW-Superior, 8-4, 11-4, 12-11, 9-4. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, recovered nicely from their losses to Platteville when they went to St. Thomas and swept the nationally ranked Tommies, 6-2, 16-4, on Saturday. The Blue Devils returned to the Twin Cities Sunday where they split a pair of games at Macalester College, winning the first, 4-3, but dropping the second, 14-4.

THE 2015 BLUE DEVILS: UW-Stout returns three of its top-four hitters from last season's squad that reached the WIAC tournament for the first time since 2007 and had the most WIAC wins since 2007. Senior Jack Schneider set a program single-season record with 17 doubles and produced a .346 batting average, while junior Brady Burzynski led the Blue Devils with a .356 batting average. Sophomore Zach Carlson pitched a team-high 61.0 innings a season ago and was sixth in the conference with a 3.54 earned run average. The Blue Devilsreturn their starting catcher, second baseman, shortstop, third baseman and centerfielder, along with a good portion of their starting pitching rotation. Experience the Blue Devils have this year, with 17 returners. | 2015 Statistics

PITCHING STAFF: Hayden Bowe (3-1 W-L, 2.34 ERA, 34.2 IP, 19K) was saddled with his first loss of the season against Platteville last Wednesday. Bowe went eight innings in the 4-2 loss, striking out three. Bowe is currently third in the WIAC in ERA. Until last weekend, Bowe, Zach Carlson (3-3 W-L, 5.23 ERA, 32.2 IP, 18 K), Drew Worth (3-1, 5.76 ERA, 25.0 IP, 14K) and Kellen Pearson (2-2, 5.94 ERA, 16.2 IP, 10K) have started all of the games this season. Patrick Gullickson (1-0, 3.97 ERA, 11.1 IP, 4K) went five innings against the Tommies to grab his first win of the season. Nick Garlick (0-1, 7.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 7K) took his first loss of the season against Macalester. Austin Booher (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 10.0 IP, 3K, 3Sv) has made a team-best nine appearances and has three saves.

HITTING THE BALL: shortstop Nick Nalbach is off and running on a 12-game hitting streak and has gotten multiple hit games in seven of those 12 games. Nalbach is hitting .449 (31-69) with a team-best 19 RBI, pounding out eight doubles, two triples and a home run. Among everyday starters, Nalbach has a team-best slugging percentage of .667. He is also fielding the team's top on-base percentage at .506 and has stolen three bases. In the outfield, he has a fielding percentage of .952. Nalbach ranks second in the WIAC in batting average and doubles. Nalbach is ranked 38th in Division III in batting average. Newcomers Ryan Connor and Hunter Dicus are working their way into the line-up. Connor hit his first collegiate home run last week against the Tommies and is hitting .389 (7-18) in limited at-bats. Dicus is hitting at a .325 pace (13-40).  Noah Brown cranked out three triples in a single game last week against the Tommies and is hitting .305 (18-59). When centerfielder Brady Burzynski gets on base, he can cause havoc for the opposing team. Burzynski leads the conference in stolen bases with 20 in 22 attempts. Burzynski started the season by stealing 15 consecutive bases. Burzynski is currently hitting .299 (20-67) and has 13 RBI. . As a team, the Blue Devils have stolen 38 bases in 50 attempts. Second baseman Jack Schneider is hitting .296 (24-81) with nine RBI. As a team, the Blue Devils are putting up the second-best fielding percentage in the league, fielding at a .962 clip. | 2015 Statistics

UW-STOUT LAST TIME OUT:The Blue Devils  went to St. Thomas and swept the nationally ranked Tommies, 6-2, 16-4, on Saturday. The Blue Devils returned to the Twin Cities Sunday where they split a pair of games at Macalester College, winning the first, 4-3, but dropping the second, 14-4.| Macalester Game Story and Statistics | St. Thomas Game Story and Statistics

THIEVERY:  Brady Burzynski started off the season with 15 consecutive stolen bases and is currently 20-of-22. Burzynski was leading the country in stolen bases, but has fallen to fifth with an average of 0.95 per game. The current NCAA averages are determined through games of April 12. Burzynski has stolen more than one base in five games and stole three bases against Hamline University on March 10. Burzynski has stolen a base in 13 of the 21 games. Burzynski just moved ahead of Andy Koehler (1997) and is tied with Mike Niemczyk (1994) for most stolen bases in a single season. All-American Brad O'Connell holds the school record for most stolen bases in a single season with 26 in 2000. Rick Angell (1996) and Tate Cummins (1998) both have 21. Burzynski currently has 33 career stolen bases, placing him 11th on the UW-Stout all-time stolen base list. Tate Cummins (1997-99) holds the school record with 44. Stout is currently ranked 74th in Division III in stolen bases as a team with 1.81 per game. Two other WIAC schools - UW-Oshkosh 2.77, 11th) and UW-Whitewater (2.29, 37th)  - are ranked in the top 100 in stolen bases as a team.

HITTING STREAKS: Nick Nalbach has an active hitting streak of 12 games, the longest of the season. Hunter Dicus is currently carrying a nine game winning streak, while Ryan Connor has hit safely in five consecutive games. Brett Vavra had a hitting streak of 14 games, the longest streak of the 2014 season. The school record for longest hitting streak...All-American Brad O'Connell went 37 games, from April 29, 2000 to May 5, 2001, eight games in 2000, 29 games in 2001.

WHERE DID HE COME FROM?: After not making the roster the last two seasons, Josh Halling has worked his way into a starting role for the Blue Devils in right field. Halling saw no action in the first game of the season, came in as a pinch hitter in the second game to collect a hit and score a run, and has started ever since. On the season, Halling is hitting .352 (19-54) with four doubles, two triples, one home run and five RBI. Halling also has two stolen bases, including one theft of home.

UW-PLATTEVILLE BASEBALL: UW-Platteville has 18 returning letterwinners from last year's team that posted the most wins since the 2010 campaign. Senior Mike Boushley led the squad with 75.0 innings pitched, 66 strikeouts and a 4.56 earned run average. His strikeouts ranked third in the conference. Junior Casey Schroeder is the team's top returning hitter with a .297 batting average, 10 doubles, 23 RBI and 23 runs scored in 2014.

The Pioneers are currently on a 12-game winning streak and are coming off a four-game weekend sweep over UW-Superior, 8-4, 11-4, 12-11, 9-4. Outfielder Evan Greco is among the leaders in the WIAC in batting average, hitting at a .386 pace (32-83) with eight doubles, three triples and a team-best 25 runs batted in. Greco is ranked third in the league in RBI and seventh in batting average. Casey Schroeder is hitting .320 (24-75), has drawn 16 walks and is the team leader in stolen bases, nabbing 12 in 17 attempts. Jonny Frese is hitting .313 (20-64). Tanner Galeazzi is the team leader in home run with four and is hitting .304 (24-79). The centerfielder, Galeazzi is perfect defensively, committing no errors in 66 chances and has four assists. Austin Daniels has made seven appearances on the mound with a team-best 39.1 innings pitched and is posting an ERA of 2.29 with 21 strikeouts. Riley Vandenberg has a team-high 23 strikeouts and has started seven games. Nathan Fay has made five starts with 18 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.51. Trevor Hall has eight appearances and the team's lone save. Hall is 1-0 with an ERA of 3.97. | 2015 Pioneer Statistics

LAST TIME STOUT AND PLATTEVILLE MET: The Pioneers took wins of 8-6, 4-2, last Wednesday at Nelson Field |  Games Summary and Statistics

UW-LA CROSSE BASEBALL: UW-La Crosse has 20 returning letterwinners from last year's squad that advanced to the WIAC tournament title game for the third straight season.  Junior Taylor Kohlwey shared Position Player of the Year honors with Pierce after leading the conference with a .458 batting average and 88 hits.  His 88 hits led all of NCAA Division III and he is currently riding a 29-game hitting streak - the second-longest streak in conference history.  Junior Travis Buxton-Verstegen had at least one hit in 39 of 42 games last season, while senior Ben Cejka established a school single-season record with 83.2 innings pitched.  Head coach Chris Schwarz recently becaem the program's all-time wins leader. | 2015 Statistics

LAST TIME STOUT AND LA CROSSE MET: UW-La Crosse talled 35 hits over two games and twice defefated UW-Stout, 17-10, 12-5, April 22, 2014, at Nelson Field. The Eagles recorded 21 hits in the first game and 14 in the second. | Games Summary and Statistics

2015 TEAM CAPTAINS: Team captains for the 2015 season are Kasey Kruse, Charlie Meyer and Adam Widder

AWARDS AND HONORS: In four games against nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point, Josh Halling batted .429 (6-14) with three runs batted in, hitting two doubles and a home run and was named the UW-Stout/Northwestern Mutual Athlete of the Week...Hayden Bowe was the UW-Stout/Northwestern Mutual Athlete of the Week after going 2-0 over his first three starts and struck out 13.

COACHES: Toby Gardenhire, (62-80) is in his fourth season with UW-Stout. Gardenhire coached the Blue Devils to a 20-21 record in 2014. In the fall, 2013, Gardenhire played for Germany in the World Baseball Classic. Gardenhire received his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois in community health in 2005.  UW-Platteville: Eric Frese is in his 17th season overall (269-408-3) and his ninth at Platteville (135-207-2).  UW-La Crosse: Chris Schwartz (226-198-1) is in his 11th season at La Crosse.

2014 BLUE DEVILS: UW-Stout returns three of its top-four hitters from last season's squad that reached the WIAC tournament for the first time since 2007 and had the most WIAC wins since 2007. Senior Jack Schneider set a program single-season record with 17 doubles and produced a .346 batting average, while junior Brady Burzynski led the Blue Devils with a .356 batting average. Sophomore Zach Carlson pitched a team-high 61.0 innings a season ago and was sixth in the conference with a 3.54 earned run average. | 2014 Statistics

DOWN THE ROAD: The Blue Devils are scheduled to travel to UW-Superior, Tuesday, April 21, then are slated to host UW-Oshkosh, Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m., and Sunday, April 26 at noon.