Wartburg College 6, UW-Stout 4 |
UW-Stout 18, Wartburg College 17
WAVERLY, Iowa (April 2, 2017) - UW-Stout survived a wild second half of a doubleheader to earn a split with Wartburg College. After the Knights captured the first game 6-4, Stout hung on for an 18-17 second game win Sunday.
The Blue Devils (9-11), behind a school record 23 hits, racked up several big innings as every one of Stout's starting offensive players notched at least one hit and at least one run scored.
Stout held an 18-12 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. But the Knights responded with five runs, including their second grand slam of the game, to pull to within one run with two outs.
Jessica Daley, who had come on in relief and was taking the brunt of the Knights' attack, got the final out, forcing a pop-up foul to the catcher.
"The question wasn't who wanted it more, it was a question of who could get to 21 outs first," said Blue Devil coach
Becky Iaccino. "I was surely scared with the way Wartburg kept coming back, but the most amazing thing was every time they scored, we answered back."
Stout's offensive explosion for 23 hits topped the previous school record of 19 hits, set against UW-Superior in 2000.
"Today I spoke to the team about attacking the good strikes and mistake pitches," Iaccino said. "The thing I'm most proud of today offensively was the adjustments we made at letting the ball get deep, keeping the barrel inside the ball, and the extension we got on every hit. Our focus has been hitting the ball in the gaps so our miss hits end up staying in fair territory...today we did just that."
Rachel Thomas set the tone for the Blue Devils in the game with a lead-off home run, driving a 3-2 pitch to deep centerfield to open the game. Thomas would go on to hit 5-for-6 with four RBI. Daley, batting in the second spot, was 3-for-5, while first baseman
Beth Wood was 3-for-6 with two RBI.
Kyncaide Diedrich, who took the win working the first 4.2 innings, was 3-for-4 with three RBI and four runs scored.
Kaylee Francois,
Alicia Meyer,
Katelyn Schobert and
Megan Hultgren recorded two hits. As a team, Stout also stole five total bases.
The long ball gave Stout their only runs in the first game. With Daley on first, Wood took the hit-and-run sign and drove the ball to right center for a two-run home run in the first inning to give Stout a 2-0 lead. The Knights scored a single run in the third, two in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 6-2 lead. Meyer hit a two-run shot in the sixth to cut the lead to what would prove to be the final 6-4 score.
"These games were a sure test of will and grit," Iaccino said. "Both teams played their hearts out. What a great two games we had today. I'm so proud of the tenacity of this squad. Each outing is a step in the direction of everything we are trying to build with this program. I can't say enough about the attitude, fight, drive and passion each player had today."
On the day, the Blue Devils cracked out 31 hits, getting eight hits in the first game. The 18 runs scored in game two was the third time this season Stout scored 18 runs in a game this season. Stout had a total of 15 hits in a sweep of the University of Northwestern Saturday to finish with 46 hits on the weekend over four games.
"The process is beginning to show it's results, but we have to keep trusting in it and working it for continued improvement and success," Iaccino said. "One through nine of our line up has the potential to hit the ball hard. Our test comes in the mindset and approach to each at-bat, each pitch."
Stout will open the home portion of their schedule Saturday, April 8 when they host Crown College at 1 p.m., then will host UW-Stevens Point the following day for the Blue Devils' conference opener.
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