RIVER FALLS – The UW-Stout Blue Devils (10-14, 1-1) split a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) doubleheader against the UW-River Falls Falcons (16-12, 1-3) on Wednesday afternoon at Faye Perkins Stadium. The Falcons took the first game 7-5, while Stout bounced back with a 5-0 shutout victory in the second game.
Game 1: UW-River Falls 7, UW-Stout 5
The Blue Devils started strong, jumping to a 3-0 lead after two innings.
Payton Dolecki sparked the offense, scoring three times and going 2-for-4 with a single and a bunt. In the first inning, Stout capitalized on a pair of singles and an error, with RBI contributions from
Rayni Bresnahan and an unearned run on a Falcon miscue. Dolecki scored again in the second on an RBI walk by
Stephanie Kuhn.
River Falls responded with a big third inning, scoring four runs to take a 5-3 lead. Stout battled back in the sixth, tying the game at 5-5 when Kuhn singled to drive in Dolecki and
Donna D'Addabbo scored on Bresnahan's bases-loaded walk.
The Falcons regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth, as Kressel's two-run home run off pitcher
Anna Blanford (L, 8-7) proved to be the difference. Blanford took the loss, allowing two runs on three hits in one inning. Starter
Samantha Bergeron pitched 2.1 innings, giving up four earned runs, while
Jennalyn Mallmann threw 2.2 scoreless innings in relief. Stout recorded eight hits, with Kuhn going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and
Sammy Noreen adding a double.
Game 2: UW-Stout 5, UW-River Falls 0
Stout dominated the second game, with pitcher
Anna Blanford (W, 9-7) delivering a complete-game shutout, allowing five hits and striking out five over seven innings. The Blue Devils' offense supported Blanford with seven hits, including doubles from
Emma Muehlenbeck,
Elly Holden, and
Grace Vowell.
The scoring began in the second inning when Holden doubled and scored on Vowell's double, followed by
Liz Rohl's RBI single to make it 2-0. Stout added a run in the third when Muehlenbeck doubled and scored on a D'Addabbo single. Stout added insurance runs in the sixth and seventh adding a run in each inning off of errors.
Looking Ahead
UW-Stout will travel to UW-Platteville for a WIAC doubleheader on Saturday, April 19. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM.
