Baseball Preview: Blue Devils off to the Windy City for four games

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (3-14, 0-6 WIAC) contest with  UW-La Crosse (13-6, 5-1 WIAC), was postponed twice, but are scheduled to go to the Illinois Institute of Technology (9-14, 1-7 WIAC), Saturday, April 21 at 11 a.m. and Sunday, April 22 at 12 p.m. Stout was to host Illinois Tech, but the Stout field is not ready for play and the games have moved Chicago, Ill.

HITTING THE BALL THIS SEASON: Jon Krueger continued his hot streak last week against UW-Stevens Point, batting .500; going 4 for 8. In his last nine game appearances, Krueger has accumulated an average of .464 (13-28). He has recorded a hit in all nine of those appearances, while also recording three RBI and four Runs. Krueger is batting .378 for the season. Sophomore Infielder Jack Hemsath is leading the team in slugging percentage at .423 as well as RBI with nine. | 2018 Statistics

PITCHING THIS SEASON: Brad Rindfleisch made his first collegiate start in Game 2 against UW-Stevens Point last week and did nothing but impress. The Sophomore went eight innings deep, allowing only five hits and one run, while striking out six. He dropped his ERA to a team low of 0.63 and has lowered his opponents batting averages against him to .167. Rindfleisch was selected as the UW-Stout/Toppers Athlete of the Week. Jack Donahue has a 2-1 record this season, working 26.0 innings with an ERA of 3.12. Donahue, a transfer from Iowa Central CC, has a recorded a team-best 19 strikeouts in five appearances and three starts. Zach Carlson has returned to the lineup after sitting out last season due to injury. Carlson has 18 strikeouts and has thrown 28.0 innings. Sires has 16 strikeouts for the Blue Devils over 18.2 innings. Wyatt Enstmeyer has recorded Stout's lone save of the season and has 10 strikeouts over 13.0 innings tossed.


UW-STOUT LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils lost to UW-Stevens Point, 10-1, 4-1 in 14-innings, April 11 at Mauston. In game two, Brad Rindfleisch, making his first start of the season for the Blue Devils, went eight innings, striking out six and scattering five hits, but was not involved in the decision. The Pointers scored the game-winning-run on a sacrifice fly in the 14th, then added a two-run home run. Stout finished with eight hits, while the Pointers had 12. Jon Krueger extended his hitting streak to games by hitting safely in both games, going 2-for-4 in the second game. Ben Vanhove and Jared Jarvensivu each had two hits. In the opener, the Pointers scored four runs in the second and two in the third to take a 6-0 lead, then built that up to a 10-0 in the fifth. Stout staved off elimination by the 10 run rule with a run in the sixth. Jack Hemsath singled home Krueger. | Game Story and Stats

WIAC PRESEASON: UW-Stout is picked to finish fifth in the WIAC, according to a preseason poll conducted by the conference. UW-Whitewater is picked first, followed by UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, and UW-Stevens Point. UW-Platteville is picked sixth and league-newcomer, the Illinois Institute of Technology, was picked to finish seventh. ITT will be in the league for one year only.


ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: Illinois Institute of Technology begins its first season as an affiliate member with the conference after previously being an independent. The Scarlet Hawks are off to a 9-14 start and are 1-7 in WIAC play.  They have dropped 10 of their last 11 games, giving up at least 7 runs in 8 of those. Second Year Catcher Zachary Dickey leads the way for ITT at the plate, batting .309 with 10 RBI and a .543 slugging percentage.  On the mound, Ian Duke has led the way with a 3.12 ERA and has struck out 18 batters in 26 innings.  John Zalewski has also been solid this season, earning a 3-1 record, while boasting a 4.78 ERA. The Scarlet Hawks have 20 returning letterwinners from a year ago, including Orlando Cardenas-Juan, who led the team with a .346 batting average and eight stolen bases, while finishing second with 19 RBI. James Tarala recorded 34 strikeouts in 52.1 innings pitched.. | 2018 Statistics

ILLINOIS TECH THE LAST TIME OUT: For the second time this season, the Illinois Tech baseball team hosted WIAC opponent UW-Whitewater for a two-game weekday set at Chicago State University. Coming into the contest ranked third in the nation, the Warhawks defeated Tech 7-0 and 7-1. |  Game Story and Statistics

LAST TIME STOUT AND ITT MET: This will be the first meetings of the two squads on the diamond.


2018 TEAM CAPTAINS: Team captains for the 2018 season are seniors Jared Jarvensivu, Max Sires and Zach Carlson, along with junior Jordan Wilson.

AWARDS AND HONORS: Brad Rindfleisch was selected the UW-Stout/Toppers Pizza Athlete of the Week, April 17, after throwing eight innings and allowing only one run in an eventual 14-inning loss to UW-Stevens Point, April 11...2017: Joel Hollow was selected as a first team all-WIAC pick at third base...Max Sires was selected as the WIAC Pitcher of the Week and was the UW-Stout/DigiCopy Athlete of the Week after pitching a season opening 1-0 shutout win over Bethel College, Feb. 27 at the US Bank Stadium...Noah Brown and Derek Graves earned WIAC honorable mention selection last spring.

THREE HOME RUNS IN A SINGLE GAME:
Noah Brown vs. UW-Stevens Point, May 5, 2017 (W 6-0) 3-for-5, 4 RBI
Brad O'Connell vs. Albion College, March 15, 2001 (W 14-7) 5-for-5, 8 RBI

COACHES: Ben Kincaid (13-41) is in his second year as the Blue Devils' head coach, following two years as a Blue Devil assistant coach where he worked primarily with the pitchers. Kincaid played collegiately at at Minnesota State University-Mankato, where he was a four year letter winner, playing in 149 games. He finished with a .339 batting average, 38 doubles (5th on MSU's career list), six home runs and 140 runs batted in (6th on MSU's career list). As a righthanded pitcher he sported a 14-8 record with a 3.45 earned run average and had 148 strikeouts in 172 innings pitched. Kincaid was named to the All-Central Region team three times in his career. An Eau Claire native, Kincaide played for the local Eau Claire Express.  Illinois Tech: Ed Zeifert (20-40) is in his second year with the Scarlet Hawks.


2017 BLUE DEVILS: Stout finished the 2017 season at 10-27 overall, 6-14 in the WIAC. | 2017 Statistics

DOWN THE ROAD: The Blue Devils are scheduled to host UW-Stevens Point, Wednesday, April 25, at 1 p.m., at Woodside Sports Complex in Mauston, then will meet UW-Oshkosh, April 28-29, at Copeland Park in La Crosse.

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