UW-La Crosse 3, UW-Stout 2 (17 inn) |
UW-La Crosse 8, UW-Stout 3 (5 inn)
MENOMONIE (May 8, 2018) - The venerable Chicago Cubs Ernie Banks once said "Let's play two" but Banks is not known to ever utter the phrase "Let's play three." For UW-Stout and UW-La Crosse it almost seemed like three games as the teams played a combined 22 innings of baseball - which would certainly have gone on longer if rain did not force the end of the second game after five innings.
In what is likely the longest game in terms of innings played in UW-Stout baseball history, UW-La Crosse's Alex Robson drove in the game-winning run in the top of the 17th inning to defeat the Blue Devils, 3-2, Tuesday at Nelson Field. La Crosse won the second game, 8-3, in a rain-shortened five-inning affair.
The Eagles' Carson Youngquist opened the 17th inning with a single through the right side, then moved to second on Cal Tully's sacrifice bunt. Robson laced the ball into center field to score Youngquist.
Stout (8-25, 5-15 WIAC) opened the scoring of the marathon game with a solo home run in the second inning by
Kasey Bass, his third of the season, but the Eagles (23-12, 13-7 WIAC) scored twice in the top of the third when Shane Coker scored Nate Roethle on a sacrifice fly and Nate Heili drove in a run.
There was no scoring until the seventh inning when freshman catcher
Hunter Merrill tied the game with a two-out, solo home run to left center, the first of his collegiate career.
Stout stranded one runner in the ninth and two in the 10th inning and there was no scoring until the 17th.
The Eagles were held in check after
Brad Rindfleisch came in to relieve Stout starter
Jack Donahue in the sixth inning. Rindfleisch worked nine innings of no-hit ball, not allowing an Eagle runner on base until a dropped third strike to open the 10th inning. That runner was erased in an attempt to steal second. Rindfleisch walked leadoff batter Brady Stolzman in the 12th inning, the only other batter to reach base while Rindfleisch commanded the mound. Rindfleisch exited after the 14th inning, striking out three and walking one.
The Eagles Caleb Willems got the win, pitching nine innings of scoreless ball, entering the game in the ninth inning. Willems allowed five hits and struck out five.
Thirteen runners recorded seven at-bats, six for the Eagles, seven for the Blue Devils. La Crosse out-hit Stout, 13-10, but nine of La Crosse's hits came in the first five innings of the game. Seven of Stout's hits game in the first nine innings of the game. La Crosse left 11 runners on base, Stout nine.
In the nightcap, played in a steady rain, the Eagles scored three runs in the third inning, then tagged on five more in the fourth. Stout put up three runs in the fourth on
Jon Krueger's three-run home run to right field. The Eagles out-hit Stout, 8-5. Heili and Robson were both 2-for-3 to lead the Eagles.
Jordan Wilson was 2-for-3 for Stout.
The Eagles' Robson was 3-for-7, while Heili and Nate Roethle each had two hits.
Ben Vanhove, Bass, Merrill and
Reid Akerman each went 2-for-7. Only two walks were issued and batters were awarded bases after being hit by a pitch.
The long game was not a rarity to both teams. The Eagles played a 16-inning game earlier in the season, an 8-3 loss to Concordia-Chicago, March 23 in La Crosse, and the Blue Devils had a 14-inning game, a 4-1 loss to UW-Stevens Point, April 11 in Mauston. Rindfleisch pitched eight innings in that game for Stout, but also did not figure into the decision.
The games marked the final home games for seniors
Zach Carlson,
Ryan Connor,
Paul Danczyk,
Wyatt Ernstmeyer,
Joel Hollow,
Max Sires and
Sam Waters.
The Blue Devils will conclude the 2018 season when they travel to UW-Platteville, Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12.
