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MENOMONIE (April 8, 2017) - UW-Stout had to work overtime to get a sweep over Crown College, but work they did and as the Blue Devils downed the Storm, 3-1, 8-7 in nine innings Saturday at Alumni Field in the season opener.
In the opening game, freshman
Megan Hultgren drove in all three runs, starting with two runs in the bottom of the second to put Stout (11-11) up 2-0 early.
Kaylee Francois pounded a one-out double.
Alicia Meyer drew a walk and
Mariah Diercks moved them both with a sacrifice bunt. Hultgren ripped the ball to right field for a single to score both players.
Hultgren gave the Blue Devils a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning. Francois opened the inning with single, then moved to second when Meyer was safe on an error. Dierck's dropped another sacrifice bunt, this one in front of the pitcher who had only one play and Francois and Meyer moved up a base. Hultgren got hold of a pitch and sent it to deep centerfield to allow Francois to score.
The Storm (6-18) got their only run in the fifth inning on a series of passed balls and wild pitches.
Kyncaide Diedrich went the distance to get the win, allowing no earned runs and striking out six. She surrendered four hits.
In the second game, the Storm jumped out to an early 7-0 lead through the first two innings. But only one run proved to be an earned run as Stout helped the Storm's cause with three errors.
Senior
McKayla Brunner came on in relief and pitched perhaps her best game of the season, shutting down the Storm and allowing only four hits and a walk to pick up her first win of the season. The Blue Devils needed Brunner's mastery as they staged a comeback.
Stout cut into the lead with three runs in the third inning.
Kaitlin Murray drew a lead-off walk, then scored on Diedrich's triple.
Beth Wood plated Diedrich with a single. Brunner came in to run for Wood, advancing to second on a groundout, then scoring on consecutive passed balls.
The Blue Devils added two runs in the fourth inning to make it 7-5. Diercks reached on a fielder's choice, moved to third on Hultgren's double and scored on a wild pitch. Moments later, Hultgren scored on a wild pitch.
A two-run fifth would tie the game and eventually send the game into extra innings. Diedrich opened the inning with a single and Brunner reached on an infield hit.
Heather Bol scored Diedrich, but Brunner was cut down at third base. Whitney McDougal-Saxe ran for Bol and scored on
Kaylee Francois's double.
Neither team seriously threatened until the bottom of the ninth. Murray opened the stanza with a single down the left field line and moved to second on
Katelyn Schobert's sacrifice. Diedrich came to the plate, a home run short of hitting for the cycle. Diedrich grounded out, but moved both runners. Wood came to the plate and singled to left center to drive in Murray with the game winner.
Stout tallied 13 hits in the game, led by Francois who went 3-for-4 and Diedrich, who went 3-for-5. Wood was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
Stout will host UW-Stevens Point, Sunday, April 9 in the Blue Devils' WIAC opener. Game time has been changed from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m.
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