Softball Preview: Stout at La Crosse, Platteville this weekend

at UW-River Falls: Live Stats | Live Video | at UW-La Crosse: Live Stats  | at UW-Platteville: Game One Live Stats | Game Two Live Stats

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: Weather rules again. The Blue Devils (13-13, 2-0 WIAC) were scheduled to play at UW-River Falls (10-15, 2-2 WIAC), Wednesday, April 19, but that game has once again been postponed, this time to Friday, April 21 at 2 p.m.  The original date was Friday, April 14, but weather forced the change.  The change in the schedule sets up a dramatic weekend with six games over the three days for both River Falls and Stout.  The Blue Devils will be at UW-La Crosse (20-10, 4-2 WIAC), Saturday, April 22 at 2 p.m. and at UW-Platteville (7-21, 1-7 WIAC), Sunday, April 23, at 12 p.m.

UW-STOUT:  Kyncaide Diedrich leads the team in average with a .417 (30-72),  in runs scored (25), RBI (16), slugging percentage (.653) and stolen bases (16-19), not bad for someone who took last season off to concentrate on basketball in her first year at school. Now, Diedrich plays both sports and was an all-conference basketball honorable mention selection. Diedrich has also been effective in the circle, with a team-best 2.39 and a 4-1 overall record over six starts. Diedrich has notched 17 Ks, behind only Beth Wood who has tossed a career-best 35 strikeouts, nearly eclipsing her total of 35 from her first two season. Wood has an ERA of 3.08 over 11 starts, and 13 appearances in a team-high 66.0 innings pitched. Wood wields a pretty good bat, hitting at a .403 clip (31-77) with 14 RBI. Senior McKayla Brunner has found her stride in the pitching circle as of late. In her last five outings over 15.1 innings pitched, Brunner has not allowed an earned run and has allowed only two unearned runs. Rachel Thomas is hitting .398 (35-88) with 14 RBI, with four doubles, two triples and one home run. Sophomore Kaylee Francois is hitting .377 (23-61) with nine RBI and a team-best eight doubles. Freshman Megan Hultgren, who plays both third base and catches, is hitting .367 (18-49) with five doubles and nine RBI. Alicia Meyer leads the team in home runs with three and has 13 RBI.  Senior Heather Bol has 12 RBI. | 2017 Statistics

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT:  The Blue Devils saw their winning streak come to an end at five games after losing a pair of games to St. Thomas, 7-2, 8-0, April 17.. Stout was coming off a pair of wins the weekend before, downing Crown College, 3-1, 8-7 in nine innings, April 8 in the home opener, then took care of UW-Stevens Point in the conference opener the following day, 5-1, 6-3. | St. Thomas Game Story and Statistics  | Crown Game Story and Statistics | UW-Stevens Point Game Story and Statistics

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

WIAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Stout has grabbed the tournament title once, that coming in 2005 at UW-Whitewater. Overall, Stout is 24-38 in WIAC tournament games. Stout finished second in 1995, a year the tournament was held in Menomonie. Stout last hosted the tournament in 2014.

UW-RIVER FALLS:  The Falcons are 10-15 overall, and are at an even 2-2 in the WIAC. Ali Krohn is hitting a team-best .388 (31-80) and 11 RBI. Lexi Dupee is hitting at .407 with five doubles and nine RBIs on the season. Amber Galloway hit four home runs over the weekend, one in each game, after not hitting one in the previous 19 games. Galloway has a team-best 15 RBI.  Payton Speckel has tossed a team best 83.0 innings and has struck out 81 batters.  The Falcons swept Martin Luther College, 13-2, 9-1, in their last outing, April 13.  | 2017 Statistics

LAST TIME THEY MET: The teams split the two games they had last season in Menomonie. Stout took the first game 4-1, but the Falcons came back to win the second 8-4. Tori Workman set another Blue Devil record on the in first game, as she became the all-time winningest pitcher in Stout history.  | Game Story and Statistics

UW-LA CROSSE: The Eagles sit at 20-10 on the season, and fourth place in the WIAC standings with a 4-2 WIAC record, after sweeping UW-Oshkosh Monday. Two Eagles hit above .400 with Bethany Baldwin at .443 and Stephanie Cole at .411. Cole has two home runs on the season, and 25 RBIs on the season. Jessie Carigann serves asthe Eagles' best pitcher with a 1.48 ERA, seven wins, and 29 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched.

UW-PLATTEVILLE: The Pioneers (7-21, 1-7 WIAC) sit at the bottom of the WIAC with one win and seven losses. Emily Woodford hits a .360 average for the Pioneers, with five doubles, four triples, and one homerun to her name. Jess Butzen has pitched 66 innings and owns a team best 6.05 ERA, and averages 4.95 Ks/7 innings.

ST. THOMAS: The Tommies are 20-6 overall and sit at No. 17 in the NFCA Coaches poll. The Tommies pitching staff and defense has propelled them this season, making 11 of their 20 wins shutouts. Junior Sammy Hogan owns a 2.99 ERA in 82 innings pitched, a 8-2 record, and has come in to save five games for the Tommies. As a team, St. Thomas has .343 batting average. | 2017 Statistics

LAST TIME THEY MET: Stout dropped two games on the road last year against the Tommies. Rachel Thomas had two hits on four at bats in the second game, but Stout was scoreless in the first game. | 2016 Game Story and Statistics


NFCA RANKINGS: UW-Whitewater is currently ranked 13th in the April 19 NFCA Division III poll. UW-Eau Claire is ranked 15th and UW-Oshkosh 17th. Stout has yet to play either of the three. .  |  NFCA Top 25 poll

BLUE DEVILS LAST SEASON: The Blue Devils were 17-21 overall and 6-8 in league play. The Blue Devils advanced to the WIAC tournament. | 2016 Statistics

AWARDS AND HONORS: Kaylee Francois was selected the UW-Stout/DigiCopy Athlete of the Week April 12...Pitcher/infielder Beth Wood and catcher/outfielder Rachel Thomas were 2016 all-WIAC honorable mention selections...2016: Tori Workman was selected as the 2015-16 UW-Stout female athlete of the year...Nicole Rogers received the 2016 WMG Humanitarian Award...Tori Workman was selected the UW-Stout/Northwestern Athlete of the Week, April 26, after notching her school record 54th career win...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.


COACHES: Blue Devil coach Becky Iaccino (48-52 overall, 30-34 at UW-Stout) is in her second year as the head coach of the Blue Devils. Iaccino 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.

GRAND APPEARANCE: Alicia Meyer hit a grand slam against the College of Mount St. Vincent, March 14. Meyer had six RBI in the game. Previous to Meyer's grand slam, the last 4-RBI round tripper came March 8, 2013 by Alison Gray against St. Olaf College.

GRAND SLAMS
Alicia Meyer vs. the College of Mount St. Vincent, March 14, 2017
Alison Gray vs. St. Olaf College, March 8, 2013

ON DECK:  Stout is scheduled to close out the home portion of their schedule, but it will be a busy home schedule with four home events. Stout will host St. Olaf, Tuesday, April 25, UW-Eau Claire, Wednesday, April 26, UW-Whitewater, Saturday, April 29 and UW-Oshkosh, Sunday, April 30.