Home Games: Live Stats |
Live Video |
at UW-Platteville: Live Stats Game One |
LIve Stats Game Two |
Live Video
THIS WEEK'S GAMES: After playing 14 games over eight days, but now off of competition for the week, the Blue Devils (9-8, 0-0 WIAC) open conference play by traveling to
UW-Platteville (9-9, 0-0 WIAC), Saturday, April 6 for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. The Blue Devils were scheduled to open home play by hosting
Bethany Lutheran College(14-7, 4-0 UMAC), Sunday, but that game has been postponed due to field conditions on Alumni Field. The Bethany game has been tentatively rescheduled for Monday, April 8.
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: UW-Stout's 23 victories during the 2018 campaign were the most in head coach
Becky Iaccino's three seasons and highest total since 27 wins in 2014.
Mary Iliopoulos led the WIAC in batting average, posting a school and conference record-tying average of .500. She also topped the league with a .538 on-base percentage, 49 hits and 35 runs scored, while finishing third with a .673 slugging percentage and 23 stolen bases.
Kyncaide Diedrich had a team-high 23 RBI and three home runs, and placed second with a .412 batting average and 25 runs scored.
Melea Bruns, a 2018 All-WIAC honorable mention selection, is the top returnee on the mound after posting a 2.83 earned run average and six wins in 64.1 innings pitched a season ago. |
2019 Statistics
Mary Iliopoulos was selected to the 2019 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division III National Player of the Year watch list and a Fastpitch News (FPN) preseason honorable mention pick.
Iliopoulos leads the WIAC in batting average at .491. The Blue Devil junior is 26-for-53 with nine RBI.
Kyncaide Diedrich is itting .367 (18-49),
Meghan Kelly is hitting .352 (19-54) and
Jessica Daley .325 (13-40). Kelly leads the team in RBI with 16. Diedrich has driven in 11 runs, Daley 10 and Iliopoulos nine.
THIEVERY: Iliopoulos and Diedrich are at it again on the base paths. Diedrich leads the WIAC in stolen bases, with a perfect 12 thefts in 12 attempts. Iliopoulos has 10 stolen bases in 14 attempts. As a team, Stout is tied for first in the WIAC in stolen bases with 34. With a combined 22 stolen bases, the duo has stolen more bases than five teams in the WIAC. Diedrich is currently 21st in the NCAA Division III in stolen bases, averaging 0.86 stolen bases per game
BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils went 6-8 on their spring break trip and were 3-5 in their final eight games. Over the last eight games, Stout lost 7-2 to St. Catherine, defeated Luther 6-2, lost to Chicago, 4-3, defeated Miami-Hamilton 5-2, lost to St. Thomas 3-0, lost to Carleton College 5-1, defeated New Rochelle, 9-1, and lost to Luther, 5-2.
WIAC PRESEASON POLL: The Blue Devils were selected to finish fourth, according to a
WIAC preseason poll. Two-time defending champion UW-Whitewater was picked to repeat, followed by UW-Oshkosh, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stout, UW-River Falls, UW-Platteville, UW-La Crosse and UW-Stevens Point.
UW-PLATTEVILLE: Rachel Martin leads the Pioneers with a .400 batting average, going 21-of-51 with a team-high 12 RBI. Abby Burns has started six games in the circle and Ashton Hoeppner 10. Hoeppner has 43 strikeouts, while Burns has notched 34. |
2019 Statistics
PIONEERS LAST TIME OUT: A walk-off single with bases loaded in game one and a dominate fourth inning in game two carried UW-Platteville to 4-3, 5-1 softball sweep over Beloit College Tuesday night in the Pioneers' home opener at the UW-Platteville Softball Complex. The Pioneers notched their first home wins of the season and improved to 9-9 overall before Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play beings this weekend. In game one, Rachel Bonnell hit the game winning walk-off single with a 1-0 count and bases loaded. The Buccaneers got to an early lead when Ashley Lambert homered scoring two runs in the first inning. UW-Platteville was able to rack up nine hits to Beloit's four, but the Pioneers were still down 3-1 when they took to the plate in the bottom of the seventh. With two on base, Angela Laabs hit a perfect sac bunt on the right line to advance the runners and was followed by two walks, Rachel Martin and Shannon Gaul, which scored one Pioneer run. Next to the plate was Alejandra Ochoa who singled deep to left field to run in the tying run before Bonnell's walk-off single to left field. Bonnell, Martin, and Haili Cota each racked up two hits in game one. Abby Burns (3-4) took the win pitching five innings with four strikeouts and gave up just one hit with three walks. In game two, a dominate fourth inning would prove too much for Beloit to overcome. Beloit once again was first to score with a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the third inning, but a sac bunt by Gaul in the third to run in Chaela West evened the game 1-1. UW-Platteville then took a commanding lead in the fourth inning with two stolen bases and three runs scored. The Pioneers extend the lead to 5-1 with a sac fly by Bonnell in the fifth to run in Marley Rowe. Andra O'Brien (3-1) claimed the win in game two and struck out five Buccaneers while walking just one and yielding five hits. Beloit's Alyssa Boltick (6-13) suffered her second loss of the day and struck out two batters and yielded four hits with eight walks. |
Beloit Game Story and Statistics
LAST TIME STOUT AND PLATTEVILLE MET: UW-Stout completed a weekend conference sweep with a pair of 2-1 win over UW-Platteville April 22, 2018, 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, In the nightcap,
Alicia Meyer hit a two-run double to left field in the third inning and the Blue Devil defense made the 2-1 lead standup. The Pioneers stranded seven runners as
Melea Bruns struck out four and allowed no earned runs, allowing five hits, over 4.1 innings.
Sommer Kunstmann came on to earn the save, pitching 2.2 innings of hitless ball. |
Game Story and Statistics
BETHANY LUTHERAN COLLEGE: (Coming into this weekend's game with UW-Superior), the Vikings have not lost a game to a Division III opponent since March 14 when they last to Skidmore College during their annual spring break trip to Arizona. The Vikings dropped a pair of games to NCAA Division II Bemidji State March 20-21 in St. Paul, Minn. The Vikings got back on the winning track when they defeated Finlandia, 8-4, March 21. The Vikings have five players hitting more than .300. Sarah Pressler is hitting .405, Hayle Sobrero .403, Zoe Kinakin .380, Eden Ambrose .362, and Shelby Bloemendaal .325. Ambrose has driven in 19 runs and Sobrero and Kinakin 13 each. Anna Hoffman has stolen five bases in five attempts. Bria Majeski has made 17 appearances already this season, with an 8-5 record and a 2.94 ERA with 90 strikeouts, ranking 12th in NCAA Division III. She has also notched two saves. Bloemendaal has appeared in 11 games, posting a 6-2 record with an ERA of 4.09. |
2019 Statistics
VIKINGS LAST TIME OUT: Bethany Lutheran has found themselves in a five game winning streak, after winning both games during their season home opener against the University of Northwestern Eagles. The first game stayed fairly close in the beginning. The Vikings and Eagles found themselves scoreless through the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, the Vikings scored 4 runs off of RBI's from Eden Ambrose, Zoe Kinakin, and Jenna Reynolds, and they would take a 4-0 lead. The Vikings would score one more time in the bottom of the fifth when Eden Ambrose batted in Sarah Presler with two outs, and the final score ended up at 5-0. The second game saw the Vikings maintain their dominance. They would score in the first inning off of a sacrifice hit from Eden Ambrose. The Vikings would hold the Eagles to just one hit in the top of the second inning, and in the Viking's half of that inning they would solidify their victory. It started with a big hit to right field from Jenna Reynolds, which saw Courtney Williams and Anna Hoffmanscore putting the Vikings up 3-0. On the next batter, Kaylee Mork would score off an RBI from Shelby Bloemendaal. Finally, Eden Ambrose would hit a single up the middle which allowed Sydney Kappel to advance to third and Jenna Reynolds to score, setting the Vikings lead at 5-0. The Vikings would keep control of the game from there, winning 9-1. Bethany would hold a 10-6 hit advantage over Northwestern in the second game. |
Northwestern Game Story and Statistics | Bethany Lutheran is scheduled to host UW-Superior Saturday, April 6. | UW-Superior Game Story and Statistics
LAST TIME STOUT AND BETHANY MET: This will be the first meeting between Stout and Bethany Lutheran in softball.
NFCA RANKINGS: The Blue Devils are scheduled to play five teams that are currently ranked in the top 25 in the NFCA Coaches Poll. In the March 13 poll, St. Thomas is ranked fourth, MIT fifth, UW-Whitewater 11th, UW-Oshkosh 20th and UW-Eau Claire 22nd. The Blue Devils received 14 votes in the March 6 poll, but then dropped out without playing a game. Of their spring break trip opponents, SUNY-Geneso, Calvin College and Luther College are receiving votes. |
NFCA Top 25 poll
BLUE DEVILS LAST SEASON: The Blue Devils were 23-12 overall and 9-5 in league play. The Blue Devils advanced to the WIAC tournament, finishing one game short of the conference tournament title game. |
2018 Statistics
LEADERSHIP TEAM: The members of the 2019 leadership team include
Alicia Meyer,
Katelyn Schobert,
Renee Murphy,
Melea Bruns and
Mary Iliopoulos
COACHES: Blue Devil coach
Becky Iaccino (67-65 Stout / 85-83 overall) is in her fourth 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. (58-57, 76-75 before season began)
UW-PLATTEVILLE: The Pioneers'
Andie Varsho (32-40 to begin season) is in her third season at Platteville.;
BETHANY LUTHERAN: Dan Nesslerenters his third season as the Head Softball Coach in 2018-19. During Nessler's first two seasons, the Vikings have qualified for the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) postseason tournament twice. Prior to Nessler's arrival, the Vikings last advanced to postseason play in 2013.
AWARDS AND HONORS: 2019:
Melea Bruns was named the WIAC pitcher of the week, April 2, after making four appearances in the last week of the Blue Devils' spring break trip...
Meghan Kelly earned WIAC player of the week honors after the Blue Devils went 3-0 at the Luther College Dome Games...
Mary Iliopoulos was selected to the 2019 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division III National Player of the Year watch list and a Fastpitch News (FPN) preseason honorable mention pick...
2018:
Mary Iliopoulos earned FPN honorable mention All-America honors, All-District honors by the NFCA and was a first team All-WIAC selection.
Kyncaide Diedrich was an All-District selection.
Beth Wood earned first team All-WIAC honors and
Melea Bruns,
Alicia Meyer and Rachel Hasting were honorable mention picks.
Mary Iliopoulos was the UW-Stout/Toppers Athlete of the Week, April 30, after hitting .517 over eight games...
Beth Wood was the UW-Stout/Toppers Athlete of the Week and the WIAC Athlete of the Week, April 24, 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.
GRAND APPEARANCE:
Kyncaide Diedrich hit her first career grand slam when she drove her first pitch in the fifth inning to end the game on the eight run rule in an 11-3 win over Minnesota-Morris, March 24, 2019, in Clermont, Fla....
Katelyn Schobert hit not only her first collegiate grand slam last season, 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)
Kyncaide Diedrich vs. UM-Morris, March 24, 2019
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: Stout will return to conference action when they travel to UW-La Crosse, Thursday, April 11, then return home for a pair of conference games, hosting UW-Oshkosh, Saturday, April 13 and UW-Whitewater, April 14.
