Blue Devil baseball scheduled to host UW-Oshkosh over the weekend

 UW-Oshkosh Live Stats | UW-Oshkosh Live Video

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (15-14, 3-11 WIAC) will host UW-Oshkosh (15-13, 7-9 WIAC), Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m. and Sunday, April 26 at noon. The Blue Devils split a pair of games at UW-Superior Wednesday, while the Titans won a couple of non-conference road games this week.

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 (3-3 W-L, 2.36 ERA, 53.1 IP, 24K) leads the WIAC in innings pitched and is fourth in ERA. Austin Booher (1-1 W-L, 4.05 ERA, 13.1 IP, 4K) is second in the league in appearances with 12 and is second in the WIAC in saves with four.  Zach Carlson (4-4 W-L, 4.73 ERA, 45.2 IP, 26 K), Drew Worth (4-2 W-L, 5.11 ERA, 37.0 IP, 23K) and Kellen Pearson (2-2, 7.71 ERA, 18.2 IP, 10K) have started the majority of the games this season. Patrick Gullickson (1-0, 4.84 ERA, 22.1 IP, 6K) doubled his number of inning pitched last week. Nick Garlick (0-1, 7.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 7K) took his first loss of the season against Macalester.

HITTING THE BALL: Shortstop Nick Nalbach saw his hitting streak end at 16 this past weekend, but he is still on of the Blue Devils' leading hitters, weighing in at .373 (38-102). He has driven in 23 runs and has scored 16 runs. Nalbach has 10 doubles, two triples and a home run. He has stolen four bases and has a fielding percentage of .952. Outfielder Hunter Dicus saw his hitting streak end at 11 last week, but he has since started a new one and is currently at five. His batting average is a team-best .424 (28-66). Dicus, who has started the last 17 games, is just barely under the league minimum to be ranked, but if he would be ranked, would be third inthe WIAC. Dicus plays either outfield or on the card as the designated hitter. Ryan Connor has also worked his way into the lineup and is hitting .333 (114-42). Center fielder Brady Burzynski is hitting .299 (29-97) and has 14 RBI. HIs 20 stolen bases is now second in the conference. Burzynski started the season off on a tear, stealing 15 consecutive bases before getting picked off.  Second baseman Jack Schneider, who is playing some third base with the loss of senior Jake Lunow, is hitting .287 (33-115) with 10 RBI. As a team, the Blue Devils are putting up the second-best fielding percentage in the league, fielding at a .960 clip. | 2015 Statistics

UW-STOUT LAST TIME OUT: As has been seeming to become a tradition, the Blue Devils split with UW-Superior, dropping the first game, 5-0 and being held to one hit, but then coming came for 1-0 win in game two. Stout will return to Superior next Wednesday, April 29. Hunter Dicus got Stout's only hit in game one, an infield hit, then was 3-for-3 in game two. Drew Worth went the distance in game two, striking out seven and getting his first collegiate shutout and complete game. |  Game Story and Statistics

THIEVERY: Brady Burzynski started off the season with 15 consecutive stolen bases and is currently 20-of-24.  Burzynski has stolen more than one base in five games and stole three bases against Hamline University on March 10.  Burzynski recently 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.

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. But Halling is in all probability lost  for the season due to illness.

UW-OSHKOSH BASEBALL: UW-Oshkosh welcomes back its top-four hitters from last season, including senior Luke Gajewski who hit a team-best .366 and sophomore Tyler Kozlowski who hit .345.  In 2014, junior Ben Messenger ranked fourth in the WIAC with a 3.28 earned run average and was second on the team with 49.1 innings pitched. The Titans have posted a winning record in 43 of the last 47 seasons. The Titans, fresh off a four-game sweep over UW-Superior over the weekend, are in the hunt for one of the four spots in the WIAC tournament. The Titans snagged a couple of non-conference road wins this week, downing North Park, 15-9 and Ripon College 5-2.

The Titans' John Eagan is third in the WIAC in batting average at .412 (49-119). Eagan is second in the league in hits (49) and first in rusn scored (38). He recently pushed past Stout's Brady Burzynski for most stolen bases with 22. Andy Brahler joins Eagan in the plus-.400 club, hitting at .407 (50-123). Brahier's 30 RBI is fourth in the WIAC. Brahier's 10 doubles matches Stout's Nick Nalbach for the conference lead. Tyler Kozlowski (.306) has 24 RBI, Jack Paulson (.306) has 21 RBI, Logan Reckert (.384) has 19 RBI and Robbie Klemen (.244) has 21 RBI. The Titans are the conference leader in stolen bases, tallying 84, well ahead of second place UW-Whitewater's 69. Eagan leads the way with 22. Paulson has 16 and Kleman has 12. Ben Messenger is among the league's leaders in strikeouts with 34 and has an ERA of 4.80 with 45 innings pitched and eight starts. Peter Jewell has tossed 50.1 innings, sporting 33 strikeouts with an ERA of 2.68 with seven starts. Jewell has three complete games. Matt Sabel has started six games, with 32.0 innings pitched, 24 strikeouts and an ERA of 5.62. Ryan Chancellor (1.42 ERA, 2-1 W-L, 2 saves), Lucas Gregory (2.37 ERA, 3-1 W-L, 1 save) and Jesse Sustachek (2.45 ERA, 3-0 W-L, 1 save) come out of the bullpen.   | 2015 Statistics

LAST TIME STOUT AND OSHKOSH MET: Last year's games were intended to be played in Oshkosh, but poor weather and field conditions moved the games to Menomonie. The Blue Devils won the first three games, 10-0, 6-2, 7-5, but lost the final contest, 6-5. | Day One Summary and Stats | Day Two Summary and Stats

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, (64-86) 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-Superior: Nick Bursik (21-41) is in his second season at Superior. UW-Oshkosh: Kevin Tomasiewicz (34-32) is in his second season at Oshkosh

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, Wednesday, April 29, then are slated to host UW-Whitewater, Saturday, May 2 at 12 p.m., and Sunday, May 3 at noon to conclude the regular season.