Baseball Preview: Blue Devils to host Stevens Point Saturday, Sunday

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (8-8, 1-3 WIAC) are coming off a 15-12 win at St. Olaf College (7-13, 1-5 MIAC), April 14, then return home to host UW-Stevens Point (7-11, 1-3 WIAC), Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17.

THE 2016 BLUE DEVILS: The Blue Devils return 11 pitchers from last year's squad and return all five pitchers who started five or more games. The pitching staff returning accounts for 307 of 324 total innings pitched last year. In the field, the Blue Devils return infielder Noah Brown, who plays at both first base and third base, as well as Austin Littmann, who has played predominately at second base. Tyler Nalbach has seen time at middle infield and Taryn Tierney has held down third base. Clay Gale and Tyler Kinderman are expected to share time at catcher. In the outfield, Brady Burzynski returns to center field, but an injury during the spring break trip may keep him out for an extended time. Josh Halling returns after seeing his 2015 season shortened due to illness. Hunter Dicus and Ryan Connor saw considerable time in the outfield. | 2015 Statistics

PITCHING STAFF:  Derek Graves put up one of Stout's best pitching performances of the season, striking out seven and going eight innings to get a 4-0 win over UW-Oshkosh last weekend to run his record to 1-1. Hayden Bowe is expected back this week, and last year's all-WIAC pick is currently posting a 2.77 ERA with 10 strikeouts and a 1-0 record over three appearances. Zach Carlson is 2-1 with an ERA of 6.00 with a teampbest 13 strikeouts. Brett Steinwagner has made five appearances, totaling 4.2 innings and has allowed only one hit. Freshman Luke Eide (6.55 ERA, 11.0 IP, 6K) picked up a win in relief in Florida and Max Sires (3.60, 10.0 IP, 2K) went the distance for his first win. Every Stout pitcher that has thrown more than one inning has at least two strikeouts.

HITTING THE BALL: Brady Burzynski began the season on a tear, hitting .615 over the first three games before being injured and sat out the remaining of the games in Florida until coming back against St. Olaf where he hit a home run and went 2-for-6. Burzynski's batting average is .526 (10-19).  Junior infielder Noah Brown picked up where Burzynski left off and is hitting .455 (30-66) with a team-high 16 RBI. Brown is currently riding an 11-game hitting streak. Austin Littman has started 15 of the 16 games and has  a batting average of .298 (17-57) with six RBI.  Hunter Dicus has a seven game batting streak and has 10 RBI. . | 2016 Statistics

UW-STOUT LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils went 1-3 against UW-Oshkosh, April 9-10 in Menomonie. The teams split on the first day with the Titans winning the first game, 8-1, but Stout bouncing back for a 4-0 win in the second game. The Titans captured the final two games, 13-7, 13-3. | Day One Story and Statistics  |  Day Two Story and Statistics


ST. OLAF BASEBALL: Tim Maus is hitting .386 (27-70) with six RBI. Joe Keiski is hitting .354 (17-48) with 11 RBI. Kap Davis has driven in 12 runs. Sam Stuckmayer is the team's long-ball hitter, leading the team with five home runs and 18 RBI. Stuckmayer is hitting .286 (14-49). Jake Mathison has a team-best .520 average (13-25), but the pticher/infielder has played in only seven games and has not seen action since March 22.   | 2016 Statistics

LAST TIME OUT: St. Olaf dropped their home opener against cross-town rival Carleton College, Tuesday, April 12, falling 6-2, 10-5. The Knights jumped out to quick leads and both games.  The Oles were swept by Bethel University, 11-5, 3-2, April 10. | Carleton Game Story and Statistics | Bethel Game Story and Statistics

LAST TIME STOUT AND ST. OLAF MET: The teams have not met since March 6, 2007, when the two-game series resulted in a split, with Stout winning the first, 7-3, but the Oles taking a 3-1 second game win.  |  Story and Statistics


UW-STEVENS POINT BASEBALL: The Pointers enter a new era as Jeremy Jirschle takes over and is in his first year as head coach. The Pointers are led by Ray Greco at the plate, hitting .333 (25-75) with 10 RBI. Greco has stolen four bases in six attempts. Clint Rose is hitting .317 (19-60) and Ben Gerber .309 (17-55). gerber has stolen six bases in six attempts. Cody Hanke leads the team in RBI with 12 and in stolen bases, nabbing eight in nine attempts, which currently tops the league. On the hill, Mark Kowalke has a 3-1 record with an ERA of 1.90 with nine strikeouts. Kody McHugh is tops in striketouts with 25. McHugh has made four starts and has a 1-0 record over 24.2 innings pitched with an ERA of 6.20. Cole Erickson has 19 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched with an ERA of 3.68.   | 2016 Statistics

LAST TIME OUT: After winning the first game of the four-game series 8-3 to UW-Whitewater, the Pointers dropped the next three games, 6-1, 12-6, 7-1.  | Game Story and Statistics

LAST TIME STOUT AND STEVENS POINT MET: The Pointers rolled to first day wins, 12-0, 12-2, April 2, 2015, in Stevens Point, but Stout won the third game of the series the next day, 4-3, before falling 7-4 in the final game. |  Day One Story and Statistics | Day Two Story and Statistics


2016 TEAM CAPTAINS: Team captains for the 2016 season are Brady Burzynski, Hayden Bowe, Patrick Gullickson and Austin Littmann.

AWARDS AND HONORS: Derek Graves was named the UW-Stout/Northwestern Mutual Athlete of the Week after getting his first Stout win in a 4-0 shuout over UW-Oshkosh, April 9... Brady Burzynski was selected as the most valuable player for the Eau Claire Express last summer. The Express play in the Northwoods League, a circuit made up of predominately Division I players...Hayden Bowe was a first team all-WIAC pick last season at pitcher...Brady Burzynski and Zach Carlson were first team all-WIAC selections in 2014.

COACHES: Toby Gardenhire, (73-100) is in his fifth season with UW-Stout. Gardenhire coached the Blue Devils to a 17-22 record in 2015. 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.  St. Olaf: Matt McDonald has led the St. Olaf baseball program to five NCAA appearances, four 30-win seasons and 18 20-win seasons in his tenure. McDonald, who won the MIAC's coach of the year in 2007 for the third time in his career, led St. Olaf to at least 21 wins in each of his first 18 seasons...UW-Stevens Point: Jeremy Jirschle is in his first year as the skipper at Stevens Point.


2015 BLUE DEVILS: Stout finished the 2015 season at 17-22 overall, 5-19 in the WIAC. | 2015 Statistics

DOWN THE ROAD: The Blue Devils will host St. Thomas, Tuesday, April 19, travel to Northland College, Wednesday, April 20, then return home to host conference favorite UW-La Crosse, Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24.