Baseball Preview: Stout closes season by hosting Macalester

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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (14-24, 4-16 WIAC)  will close out the season Monday, May 9 when they host Macalester College (16-17, 6-14 MIAC) at 2:30 p.m. in a non-conference doubleheader.


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.  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. Stout graduates 10 seniors. | 2015 Statistics

PITCHING STAFF:  Wyatt Ernstmeyer has made eight appearances and has allowed only two earned runs for a team-best 1.64 ERA. Zach Carlson is the team's strikeout leader, racking up 28 Ks. Derek Graves has 24 strikeouts and has thrown 40.1 innings, onr-third of an inning ahead of Carlson's 40.1 innings. Hayden Bowe has 20 strikeouts, Patrick Gullickson 18, Drew Worth 18, Kellen Pearson 14, Ernstmeyer 13 and Steinwagner 11. Gullickson and Steinwagner have made a team-best 10 appearances.

HITTING THE BALL: Noah Brown has been extremely steady for the Blue Devils all season and the third baseman, who jumped over to shortstop for the final two games against UW-Whitewater, leads the team in batting average with a .384 mark (56-146), ranking seventh in the WIAC, and in RBI with 33.  Brady Burzynski has been back in full swing, averaging .333 (34-102) with 14 RBI and 10 stolen bases.  Hunter Dicus is hitting .319 (37-116) and has 21 RBI. Josh Halling has gotten in a full season and has driven in 18 runs and stolen nine bases. Austin Littmann is hitting .281 (36-128) and has stolen five bases in five attempts. | 2016 Statistics

THIEVERY: Brady Burzynski entered the season sixth on the all-time Blue Devil stolen base career list and the senior recently became the school's all-time stolen base leader with 47. Following Burzynski as stolen base leaders are: Tate Cummins 44 (1997-99); Brad O'Connell 43 (1998-2001); Mike Niemczyk 43 (1990-94); Tim Buswell 41 (1986-88); JR Dachel 40 (1997-2000).

UW-STOUT LAST TIME OUT:  The Blue Devils swept UW-Superior, 9-4, 4-1, Tuesday, the team's first sweep since the opening weekend of the season.  The Blue Devils were backed by good pitching and 13 total runs as Stout captured the first game 9-4 and the second 4-1. Josh Halling had four hits on the day including three singles and a double.  The Blue Devils lost all four final WIAC games at UW-Whitewater, May 6-7, 6-5, 13-4, 3-0, 7-1.  | UW-Superior Game Story and Statistics | Whitewater Day One Story and Statistics | Whitewater Day Two Story and Statistics



MACALESTER COLLEGE BASEBALL: The Scots wrapped up play last week, finishing MIAC play with a wild split with St. Olaf, May 2, winning the first 12-0, but losing the second 10-3.  Sophomore Collin Brantner powered Macalester in the first game, going 4-for-4 with two homers, three runs and six runs batted in. As good as the bats were in Game 1, the top performance of the game came from first year pitcher Cole Chang, who tossed a three-hit shutout. Chang struck out six batters while walking one in seven innings to improve to 4-1 on the season. Junior Quentin Stuart helped the Scots start well in Game 2, blasting a two-run home run in the top of the first inning. The homer was his team-leading sixth of the season. This time, St. Olaf answered with five runs in the bottom of the third to take its first lead of the game, going on to the win. Ben Castagnetti leads the Scots at the plate, hitting .409 (45-110) with 17 RBI. Nick McMullin (.381, 48-126) and Collin Brantnter (.365, 38-104) lead the team in RBI with 32 each. McMullin has 11 stolen bases. Chang is posting a 4-1 overall record with a 3.60 ERA in 40.0 innings pitched and 26 strikeouts. | 2016 Macalester Statistics

LAST TIME STOUT AND MACALESTER MET: The two teams split last season with Stout taking the opening game, 4-3, the the Scots answered back with a big 16-4 nightcap win, April 12 in St. Paul, Minn. | Games Summary and Statistics


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

AWARDS AND HONORS: Kellen Pearson was selected as the UW-Stout/Northwestern Mutual Athlete of the Week and the WIAC pitcher of the week after going 11 complete innings to get the win over UW-Stevens Point...Derek Graves was selected as UW-Stout/Northwestern Mutual Athlete of the Week...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, (83-116) 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. .. Macalester: Matt Parrington is entering his 17th season as head baseball coach at Macalester College. He has 255 wins, which makes him the all-time leader in that category. Parrington was the 2011 MIAC Coach of The Year after leading Macalester to its first MIAC championship in 61 years. He has led the Scots to playoff appearances in 2000 and 2011.


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

DOWN THE ROAD: The season has concluded.