Softball Preview: Stout opens WIAC play at Whitewater, Oshkosh

UW-Whitewater: Live Stats | UW-Oshkosh: Live Stats

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The weather has played havoc with the Blue Devils' (8-8, 0-0 WIAC) schedule and the team was supposed to play a pair of make-up doubleheader against the University of Northwestern and St. Olaf College, but those games were postponed again. Instead, Stout will open WIAC play when they make a swing through the other side of the state to open league play, starting with UW-Whitewater (11-6, 0-0 WIAC), Saturday, April 9 and UW-Oshkosh (8-4, 0-0 WIAC), Sunday, April 10. First pitch for Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m. (time change) and Sunday at 1 p.m. (weather permitting)

UW-STOUT: The Blue Devils are under new leadership this year as Becky Iaccino takes over as head coach. The Blue Devils return ace pitcher Tori Workman, as well as her entire supporting cast of pitchers - Beth Wood, McKayla Brunner and Abbey Ball. Workman, who recently set the school record for career strikeouts for a pitcher, has a 3-4 overall record. Workman has an overall ERA of 1.18 with 41 strikeouts in 53.1 innings pitched. Wood has a 3-3 overall record and a 4.20 ERA over 28.1 innings pitched. Brunner, who was able to pitch only one game last year, has a 2-1 record and appeared in five games, has 16 strikeouts over 17.1 innings pitched. Wood leads the team in batting average at .438 (21-48) and in RBI with 13. Catcher/outfielder Rachel Thomas is right behind with a .423 (22-52). Thomas has also stolen five bases in seven attempts and has scored a team-best 15 runs. Kelly Austin, who has started six games so far this year, has a .400 average (2-5) with four runs scored. Freshman Alicia Meyer is batting .378 (8-23) and has nine RBI, including the team's only two home runs. Workman has an average of .311 with nine RBI and has stolen four bases in four attempts. The Blue Devils have eight players posting batting averages higher than .300. | 2016 Statistics

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: In their first games of the northern spring schedule, the Blue Devils lost a pair of games at St. Thomas, April 3, dropping the first game, 7-0, and the second, 3-2. Beth Wood broke up a no-hitter with a seventh inning lead off single in the first game as the 23rd ranked Tommies outhit Stout, 13-1. In the second game, Stout took a 2-1 lead on third inning RBIs by Wood and Heather Bol. | Game Story and Statistics

WIAC PRESEASON POLL The Blue Devils were selected to finish fifth, accoring to a WIAC preseason poll. UW-Whitewater was picked first, followed by UW-Oshkosh, UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse. UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Platteville were chosen sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

RECORD BEATER: When UW-Stout collected 25 runs in a 25-0 win over Southern Vermont University, March 15, it established a school record for most runs scored in a single game. The Blue Devils scored 11 runs in the first inning alone. Stout finished the game with 13 hits, but only three hits were extra base hits, with a double by Alicia Meyer and triples by Sara Griesbach and Kelly Austin. Stout drew nine walks in the contest and twice Blue Devil batters were hit by a pitch. The previous record was 20 runs scored against Wisconsin Lutheran in 2000. Austin is thought to have tied a school record when she scored four runs against Southern Vermont.

WORKMAN WORKING THE Ks: Pitcher Tori Workman holds the school record for most strikeouts in a single season (160) and recently set the school record for most career strikeouts, surpassing Karen Lien's 409 strikeouts. Lien, a Blue Devil Hall of Fame member, pitched from 1992-95. Workman currently has 438 career strikeouts and moved up to seventh on the WIAC career strikeout list, moving past UW-La Crosse's Sally Wenzel (432 - 2000-03). Karen Guckenburg (504 - 2000-03) of UW-Stevens Point is sixth on the list. Ronessa Stampfli (2005-08) of UW-Oshkosh has a firm grip on the WIAC career record with 1019 strikeouts. Workman also moved onto the WIAC list for most innings pitched. Workman is tied for 15th overall with 546.0 innings pitched. Workman needs three wins to tie Lien and Carolyn Bare for the most UW-Stout wins by a pitcher. Lien and Bare (1995-98) both have 53 wins. Workman has three wins this season to move her total to 50 career wins.

TRIPLE TIME: The Blue Devils have put up nine triples so far this year, with Rachel Thomas one of the conference leaders with three. Kaylee Francoish has two, while Kelly Austin, Tori Workman, Sara Griesbach and Alyssa Germscheid each have one.


UW-WHITEWATER: The Warhawks have managed to get three doubleheaders in after a spring break trip to Florida. Whitewater swept Carthage, 10-6, 9-0, March 29, then split with the University of Chicago, winning the first, 4-2, but dropping the second, 6-4. Whitewater split with Lake Forest Thursday. Three players are hitting .400 or better - Caitlin Cattino (.448), Mallory Klotz (.436) and Amy Ricci (.400). Catino leads the league with runs scored (21) and is tied with Stout's Rachel Thomas for the lead in triple (3). While five pitchers have thrown for the Warhawks, Julie Camarodo and Stephanie Waller have done the majority of the work. Camarodo has an ERA of 2.20 with 40 strikeouts and Waller has an ERA of 3;42 with 24 punchouts. | 2016 Statistics

WARHAWKS LAST TIME OUT: Whitewater split a pair of games against Lake Forest (Ill.) in a non-conference doubleheader at van Steenderen Softball Complex, April 7. The Warhawks won the second game of the twin bill by a 14-11 score in a game that was called after five innings due to darkness. The Foresters won the opener, 9-8. | Game Story and Statistics

LAST TIME THEY MET: The Warhawks took two of three games over the Blue Devils last season, but Stout's win came in the first game of the WIAC Tournament where Stout captured a 9-5 win. Rachel Thomas led off the game with a home run and Stout added five runs in the third to send the Warhawks into the loser's bracket. The Warhawks won the regular season games, 11-0, 8-3, on April 2, 2015, in Menomonie. Over the last five years, the Warhawks have won nine of 10 contests. | Game Story and Statistics


UW-OSHKOSH: The Titans have been idle since playing last in Florida on March 25. Lauren Torborg leads the WIAC in batting, hitting at a .515 clip, rapping out 17 hits in 33 at-bats. Abby Menting has pelted four home runs so far this season - tops in the WIAC - and has 15 RBI. As a team, the Titans lead the WIAC with nine home runs over 12 games. Sara Brunlieb and Paige Giese have tossed the majority of innings, with Brunlieb second in the league in ERA (1.05) with 32 strikeouts. Giese has an ERA of 1.59 with 10 strikeouts.  | 2016 Statistics

TITANS LAST TIME OUT: The Titans are scheduled to host St. Norbert College, Wednesday, April 6, but that game was cancelled, and UW-River Falls, Saturday, April 9 before hosting the Blue Devils, Sunday, April 10. | Game Story and Statistics

LAST TIME THEY MET: The Titans defeated the Blue Devils 3-0 in the second game of the 2015 WIAC Championship. The teams split a pair of one-run regular season games in Menomonie earlier in the season with the Titans winning 5-4 in the opener and the Blue Devils taking a 3-2 second game win, April 19, 2015. Over the last five season, the Titans hold a 6-4 advantage. | Game Story and Statistics


NFCA RANKINGS: No WIAC schools were listed in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 poll. | NFCA Top 25 poll

BLUE DEVILS LAST SEASON: The Blue Devils were 16-27 overall and 7-9 in league play. The Blue Devils advanced to the WIAC tournament and knocked off second seeded UW-Whitewater in the first game of the tournament. | 2015 Statistics

AWARDS AND HONORS: Tori Workman was the WIAC pitcher of the week after allowing no earned runs in a loss to St. Benedict to open the season and after seeing action in the circle in seven of UW-Stout's final 10 games at the Fastpitch Dreams Softball Classic in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. She started four games in South Carolina, finishing with an ERA of 1.28 and a record of 3-2....Tori Workman was a first team all-WIAC selection in 2015.

2016 TEAM LEADERS: The designated team leaders for the 2016 season are Tori Workman, Nicole Rogers and McKayla Brunner.

COACHES: Blue Devil coach Becky Iaccino (26-26) is in her first year as the head coach of the Blue Devils. Iaccino played professionally in Italy played professionally in Italy from 2003 to 2011 and with the Italian National team from 2005-07. She has been the head coach at Marian University where she was selected as conference coach of the year, and has eight years of experience as an assistant coach at Division I and III programs, most recently at Concordia University Chicago.  UW-Whitewater: Brenda Volk is in her 18th season as the Warhawks' head coach. A five-time WIAC coach of the year, Volk has led the Warhawks to five WIAC championships, five WIAC Tournament titles and nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2008 and a third-place finish in 2014...UW-Oshkosh: Scott Beyer is in his third year as the head coach of the Titans. Beyer was an assistant coach at Division I UW-Green Bay before coming to Oshkosh.

ON DECK: The Blue Devils will finally open home play when they host UW-La Crosse, Wednesday, April 13 at 3 p.m. Stout is scheduled to host UW-Platteville, Saturday, April 16 and Wartburg College, Sunday, April 17.