THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The April weather continues to play havoc and force schedule changes, and Saturday's game is one of the victims of the winter that would not seemingly end. Today's game between UW-Stout (19-6, 7-3 WIAC) and UW-Stevens Point (11-22, 0-10 WIAC) was originally scheduled to be played in Stevens Point, but field conditions forced the move. Stout was scheduled to play yesterday at UW-Oshkosh, but threatening weather caused the postponement to Monday in Oshkosh. The Blue Devils are in the midst of one their best seasons in school history. Stout is currently sitting in second place in the WIAC, two games behind UW-Whitewater with four games remaining. The Warhawks have UW-La Crosse and UW-Eau Claire remaining on their conference schedule this weekend. The Blue Devils are currently ranked fourth in the latest NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional ranking, one of five WIAC schools in the latest rankings.
Stout will be at the University of St. Thomas (27-5, 17-1 MIAC), Sunday, April 29 at noon.
With a weekend sweep of UW-La Crosse and UW-Platteville, the Blue Devils (16-5, 4-2 WIAC) have moved into a tie for second place in the WIAC standings with eight games remaining – all scheduled for this week. Because of the winter weather and the compressed schedule the Blue Devils will have a busy week, a week that will include three of the five teams that are currently setting in the top five of the league. Stout is scheduled to host UW-River Falls (17-7, 2-2 WIAC) Tuesday, April 24 and make the short trip to UW-Eau Claire (16-8, 4-0 WIAC) Wednesday, April 25. After a one day break, the Blue Devils are scheduled to go to UW-Oshkosh (15-8, 2-2 WIAC), Friday, April 27 and then meet UW-Stevens Point (11-20, 0-8 WIAC), Saturday, April 28 to wrap up the conference schedule. A non-conference game is on the schedule for Sunday, April 29 at the University of St. Thomas (27-5, 17-1 MIAC). Senior Day will be April 24 and the Blue Devils will recognize seniors
Beth Wood,
Rachel Thomas and
Kaylee Francois.
PARKING: Parking for home baseball and softball games during the business week is limited. Regular parking restrictions are strictly enforced. Parking for baseball and softball spectators during weekday games is restricted to on-street parking and in Lot 29 one hour before the scheduled start of the event. Lot 29 is located just to the north of the outdoor track.
DO NOT PARK in Lot 4 during the week. Lot 4 is the parking lot located to the west of the Sports & Fitness Center and north of Don & Nona Williams Stadium (the football stadium).
Lot 4 is only open to the general public from 1 p.m. on Fridays until 9 p.m. on Sundays. There is no general parking in Lot 4 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays and not until 1 pm on Fridays. Team bus may park in the southeast space in Lot 4 (Emergency Vehicle Only space). Team buses may also park on the east side (outdoor track side - not the metered side) of 3rd Street East. Parking is permitted in all university lots on weekends.
UW-STOUT: As a team, the Blue Devils are posting a batting average of .342, second in the WIAC, and a slugging percentage of .499, with 51 doubles, two triples and 17 home runs.
Mary Iliopoulos leads the WIAC in batting average at .554 (36-65) and is fourth nationally. The sophomore currently has a slugging percentage of .769, with six doubles, a triple and two home runs. Drawing eight walks and only two strikeouts, Iliopoulos has an on-base percentage of .603 and has 18 stolen bases, second in the WIAC and 25th nationally. Senior
Beth Wood, this week's WIAC athlete of the week, is hitting .461 (35-76), second in the WIAC. Wood is currently second in the league in doubles (12) and fourth in overall hits (35).
Rachel Thomas has raised her batting average nearly 40 points this week, coming in at .342 (26-76),hitting .600 over the last four games.
Alicia Meyer is hitting .333 (18-54). Freshman
Renee Murphy has been hitting well and has a a batting average of .344 (21-61). Wood has made 13 starts in the pitching circle with an 9-2 record in 79.2 innings pitched and 46 strikeouts. Freshman
Melea Bruns has started nine games, is 5-3 overall and has 17 strikeouts.
Sommer Kunstmann is fifth in the WIAC in ERA (2.39) and has a record of 3-1. Wood and Kunstmann each have a save.
Meghan Kelly has a team-best 2.17 ERA and is 2-0 over 9.2 innings pitched.
BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: After a flat start to the day, UW-Stout bounced back to take the second game of the day and earn a split at UW-Eau Claire, losing the first, 4-0, but winning the second 7-3 Wednesday at Bollinger Fields. Stout could not generate any real offense in the first game after stranding two runners in the first inning, but the Blue Devils certainly did in the second game. With the score tied at three apiece, the Blue Devil offense caught fire in the sixth inning, scoring four runs.
Kaylee Francois hit a one-out single, then moved to second when
Mary Iliopoulos reached on an error. Wood loaded the bases with a single and
Melea Bruns delivered a pinch hit double down the right field line to drive in two runs to extend the lead to 5-2. Following a pop-up out, freshman
Renee Murphy singled to drive in two runs for what would be the final score. UW-Stout used big innings in both games on their way to a 5-1, 9-3, WIAC sweep over UW-River Falls Tuesday at Alumni Field. The two wins moves Stout into sole possession of second place in the WIAC and was the Blue Devils' fifth and sixth consecutive wins.
After almost two weeks with no games, the Blue Devils swept a pair of conference doubleheaders, downing UW-La Crosse, 6-3, 4-3, April 21, and UW-Platteville, 2-1 in eight innings, and 2-1, April 22.
Alicia Meyer smacked two home runs and had two doubles on the day, and
Beth Wood recorded both wins as UW-Stout swept UW-La Crosse, 6-3, 4-3, in the Blue Devils' home opener at Williams Stadium Saturday. UW-Stout completed a weekend conference sweep with a pair of 2-1 win over UW-Platteville Sunday at Don and Nona Williams Stadium. The Blue Devils'
Beth Wood went the distance in the circle to win game one and drove in both runs, including a single to bring home
Kaylee Francois in the bottom of the eighth inning.
DOUBLE SACRIFICE: When
Rachel Thomas recorded two sacrifice flies in a 2-0 win over Lake Forest College, March 31, she joined a select group of Division III softball players. Hitting two sacrifice flies in a single game is not overly rare, but the NCAA does not keep the stat, nor does the WIAC. What is rare is to score the only two runs of the game in accomplishing the feat. Most games in an informal poll of Division III schools where two sacrifice flies were hit by the same player were in lopsided wins. It appears as if Thomas is the first UW-Stout player to do rap out to sac flies in a single game.
WIAC PRESEASON POLL: The Blue Devils were selected to finish fifth, according to a WIAC preseason poll. UW-Whitewater was picked first, followed by UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Eau Claire. UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls and UW-Stevens Point were chosen sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
UW-STEVENS POINT: The Pointers are looking to get back on track after dropping the last 13 games. Stevens Point's last win came a month ago, March 28, with a 12-1 win over Mount Mary in Florida. Ashley Cohen is posting the team's top batting average at .360 (18-50) and has a slugging percentage of .520 with eight doubles. Sydney Opdahl and Rachel Wakefield are each hitting .321. Cohen has made 28 appearances as a pitcher in 65.2 innings pitched, while Anna Palicka has made 27 appearances in 92.1 innings. both have two complete games and Cohen has three saves and Palicka two. Ryan Konitzer begins his first season at the helm of UW-Stevens Point after serving as the head coach at Alverno College (Wis.) last year. He previously was as an assistant coach at Lawrence University (Wis.). The Pointers bring back Paige Allen, who led the team with 43 hits and six home runs, while batting .358.
POINTERS LAST TIME OUT: Stevens Point softball team suffered a doubleheader sweep at the hands of the UW-La Crosse Eagles Tuesday afternoon. The Pointers were shut out in game one, 4-0, and fell in game two by a 6-1 score. Ashley Cohen and Payton Mix had a hit each in both games of the doubleheader. Cohen's two hits were both doubles.
LAST TIME STOUT AND STEVENS POINT MET: Throughout the weekend, UW-Stout got good pitching and timely hitting and finished a perfect weekend by sweeping UW-Stevens Point, 5-1, 6-3, April 9, 2017, at Alumni Field. Beth Wood and Kyncaide Diedrich pitched complete game wins, with Wood taking the first game, allowing only one run, and that was unearned. Wood scattered eight hits throughout the game. Diedrich took the second game win, allowing seven hits, and striking out four. Diedrich, who did not give up a walk, got into trouble in the third inning as the Pointer got all of their runs in the stanza.
UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS : The Tommies are currently ranked eighth in April 18 NFCA Division III poll. Their only conference loss came in the second half of a doubleheader with Bethel University April 5. Since then, the Tommies have won 16 straight games and 23 of their last 24 contests.
TOMMIES LAST TIME OUT: The Tommies are scheduled to host Hamline University, Wednesday, April 25 and be at St. Catherine, Saturday, April 28.
LAST TIME STOUT AND ST. THOMAS MET: UW-Stout slipped back to .500 after a pair of losses to the University of St. Thomas as the Tommies limited Stout to two runs in 7-2, 8-0 decisions April 17, 2017, at Alumni Field.
UW-OSHKOSH: UW-Oshkosh brings back all nine starting position players from the 2017 team that posted the most victories (33) since the 2007 squad (36). The Titans also made the seventh NCAA appearance in program history – advancing to the Super Regionals – for the deepest run in the tournament since the 1988 campaign. A year ago, Abby Menting led the team with a .388 batting average, .643 slugging percentage, .487 on-base percentage, 50 hits, 34 RBI, 15 doubles and six home runs. She was the WIAC Co-Position Player of the Year in 2016. Erika Berry was second on the squad with 47 hits, 13 doubles, five home runs, while ranking third with a .333 batting average.
TITANS LAST TIME OUT: Oshkosh is scheduled to host UW-River Falls, Wednesday, April 25.
LAST TIME STOUT AND OSHKOSH MET: In the WIAC Tournament, Kim Jablonski and Kyncaide Diedrich hit singles and Beth Wood brought them both home in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Stout a 2-1 win and put the Blue Devils one game away from the tournament championship game. During the regular season, UW-Stout lost a pair of one run home games to UW-Oshkosh to close out the regular season April 30, 2017, at Alumni Field. The Titans took game one, 1-0, then came back to score four run in the top of the seventh to hand the Blue Devils a 4-3, heartbreaking loss.
UW-RIVER FALLS: The Falcons have been posting the top batting average in the league, smacking the ball at a .358 average. The Falcons use the long ball, leading the league in both doubles (57) and home runs (20). Kaia Dorn leads the team in average at .459 (29-61), while Noelle Senour is not far behind at .413 (33-80). Both have slugging percentages over .700 with Dorn coming in at .721 with seven doubles and three home runs. Senour is slugging at .738 with five doubles and a league-best seven home runs. Senour also has 21 RBI. The Falcons have eight everyday players batting over .300. Senior Alyana Ledwein is hitting .384 (33-86). Fellow senior Maddie Studnick leads the team in RBI with 24 and has five home runs.
FALCONS LAST TIME OUT: UW-River Falls split a doubleheader at UW-Platteville Saturday. The Falcons fell in game one, but battled back to get the victory in game two to earn their second conference split of the weekend. Payton Speckel gave up one run while pitching all seven innings, picking up her eighth win of the season. Amber Galloway and Maddie Studnicka knocked in runs for the Falcons giving them a 2-1 win in the second game.
LAST TIME STOUT AND RIVER FALLS MET: Coming from behind proved to be the theme for UW-Stout as the Blue Devils split a pair of WIAC games April 21 at Ramer Field. The Blue Devils overcame an early deficit in game one but came back to win the contest 9-8. But the Blue Devils dropped their first conference contest of the season, coming back from trailing 5-1 to tie the game, but saw the Falcons win the nightcap, 8-6.
UW-EAU CLAIRE: The Blugolds are currently in first place in the WIAC and will have three double headers in row this week, playing at UW-La Crosse Monday, April 23, then hosting St. Mary's in a non-conference contest, Tuesday, April 24, before hosting Stout Wednesday, April 25. UW-Eau Claire's 27 wins a year ago were the most since the 2013 squad compiled 28. Sarah Peka logged 83.0 innings on the mound in 2017 with a 1.94 earned run average, 11 wins and 35 strikeouts. Brooke Varian was second on the team with a .505 slugging percentage, 28 RBI, seven doubles and five home runs.
BLUGOLDS LAST TIME OUT: The Blugolds swept UW-Stevens Point by scores of 3-2 and 2-1, April 22.
LAST TIME STOUT AND EAU CLAIRE MET: Getting hits wasn't a problem for UW-Stout but getting the runners home was as the Blue Devils were swept by UW-Eau Claire, 5-0, 9-1, April 29 at Alumni Field. Stout stranded 11 runners, including twice leaving the bases loaded, in the first game on seven hits and left nine runners in the second game off nine hits. Stout's only run of the evening came in the bottom of the seventh inning of the second game.
NFCA RANKINGS: All of the WIAC have dropped out of the NFCA Division III poll. UW-River Falls is receiving votes. Currently ranked teams that Stout will meet or has met this year include: St. Thomas, 8th; Luther College, 9th.
BLUE DEVILS LAST SEASON: The Blue Devils were 18-24 overall and 5-9 in league play. The Blue Devils advanced to the WIAC tournament, finishing one game short of the conference tournament title game.
TEAM CAPTAINS: The 2018 team captains are seniors
Rachel Thomas and
Beth Wood and junior
Kaylee Francois.
AWARDS AND HONORS: Beth Wood was the UW-Stout/Toppers Athlete of the Week after going 3-0 on the weekend over UW-La Crosse and UW-Platteville and delivering two game-winning hits over the weekend...
Kyncaide Diedrich was the Fastpitch News Division III national player of the week, March 21, after the Blue Devils' trip to Florida, stealing 17 bases and batting .559 with 17 RBI...
Mary Iliopoulos was the WIAC athlete of the week and the UW-Stout/Toppers athlete of the week selection March 20 after batting .692 in Florida...
Mary Iliopoulos was the WIAC athlete of the week Feb. 27 after going 4-of-4 in two games of the opening week...
2017:
Kaylee Francois was a first team all-WIAC selection, and
Beth Wood,
McKayla Brunner,
Kyncaide Diedrich and
Rachel Thomas were honorable mention selections...
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..
COACHES: Blue Devil coach Becky Iaccino (72-69 overall / 54-51 at UW-Stout) is in her third 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.
UW-RIVER FALLS: Amber Dohlman is in her third year with the Falcons.
UW-EAU CLAIRE: Leslie Huntington enters her 17th season in 2018 as Eau Claire's head softball coach. She is the Blugolds' all-time winningest coach and earned her 400th career win on March 20, 2016.
UW-OSHKOSH: Scott Beyer enters his fifth season as UW-Oshkosh's head softball coach. He owns a 112-49 overall record with the Titans. Beyer has coached eight UW-Oshkosh players to 14 total all-region honors and eight players to 16 total all-conference awards, including 2015 WIAC Pitcher of the Year Sara Brunlieb and 2016 WIAC Co-Postion Player of the Year Abby Menting. In 2014, a program record-tying five Titans received all-region accolades. In Beyer's first four seasons at the helm, UW-Oshkosh has established new school records in batting average, doubles, triples, home runs, stolen bases, slugging percentage and fielding percentage.
UW-STEVENS POINT: Ryan Konitzer is in his first year as the Pointer head coach. Konitzer comes to Stevens Point from Alverno College where he led the Inferno to a school record in sacrifice hits and stolen bases in 2017. He won 13 games, including six in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play in his lone season at Alverno.
ST. THOMAS: John Tschida is regarded among the elite coaches in college softball. He begins his 18th season as head coach of the Tommies in the 2017-18 academic year. In 2004 he became the first softball coach to win NCAA championships at two different schools. He reached 800 career victories in 2015, and coached his 1,000th college softball game in 2016.
GRAND APPEARANCE:
Katelyn Schobert hit not only her first collegiate grand slam, but her first collegiate home run with a bases-loaded round tripper against Westfield State College, March 16, 2018, in Clermont, Fla.
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 (Since 2013)
Katelyn Schobert vs. Westfield State College, March 16, 2018
Alicia Meyer vs. the College of Mount St. Vincent, March 14, 2017
Alison Gray vs. St. Olaf College, March 8, 2013
ON DECK: The Blue Devils were scheduled to host the University of Northwestern, Monday, April 30, but that game was scratched when the UW-Oshkosh game was postponed. The WIAC Tournament is scheduled for May 4-6 at a yet to be determined site.
