UW-La Crosse 6, UW-Superior 5

UW-Superior 10, UW-La Crosse 6

La Crosse, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team split a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) doubleheader with UW-Superior Wednesday afternoon at North Campus Field. The Eagles won the opener, 6-5, before the Yellowjackets came back to win the nightcap, 10-6.  UW-L is now 14-7 overall and 6-4 in the WIAC while UW-Superior is 5-14 overall and 1-5 in the conference.

In the opener, UW-Superior took 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Mike Labelle's RBI double to score Rhett Williamson. UW-L tied the game in the bottom of the inning as Corey Geary scored on a Matt Trocke single. Williamson had a bunt single to knock in Tony Remund in the top of the second to give the Yellowjackets a 2-1 lead, but the Eagles tied the contest in the bottom of the third on Brett Jacobson's sacrifice fly to score Trocke.

UW-L then tallied two runs in the fourth and fifth innings to lead 6-2. Jay Fanta had an RBI single and Zach Harazin a sacrifice fly in the fourth and Matt Johnson hit a two-run home run in the fifth.

UW-Superior cut the lead to 6-5 with three runs in the top of the seventh. Remund scored on a wild pitch, Shaun Marshall had an RBI groundout and Joe Stark a run-scoring single for the Yellowjackets.

Kevin Johnson (3-0) earned the win for UW-L, going 6.2 innings, allowing nine hits, five runs (three earned) and one walk while striking out six. Skyler Debilzen pitched 1.1 innings with one strikeout. Zach Lauersdorf picked up his fourth save for the Eagles, pitching 1.0 inning, allowing one hit with two strikeouts.

UW-L finished with 12 hits. Fanta was 3-for-5 with an RBI while Geary was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and Johnson 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Trocke finished 2-for-5 with a run and RBI.

Ethan Branum took the loss for UW-Superior, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing eight hits, five runs and two walks with three strikeouts. Williamson was 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI for the Yellowjackets.

In the nightcap, UW-L took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second on Cole Cefalu's two-out two-run single. UW-Superior scored five runs in fourth inning with Remund having a two-run single. The Eagles cut the lead to 5-3 with a run in the bottom of the fourth as Fanta had an infield single.

UW-L scored twice in the fifth to tie the game and once in the sixth to take a 6-5 lead. In the fifth, Adam Cordova hit a two-run home run for the Eagles to tie the contest and Fanta's double in the bottom of the sixth knocked in Cefalu and 6-5 UW-L lead.

UW-Superior tallied five runs in the eighth on two hits. The game was tied 6-6 after Williamson hit an RBI single and Labelle hit a three-run double to give the Yellowjackets a 9-6 advantage. He later scored on an Eagles' throwing error.

The Eagles had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, but failed to score.

Bobby Tyndall earned the win for the Yellowjackets. He went 1.2 innings. allowing one walk with a strikeout. Five different players had two hits for UW-Superior.

Bryant Rude (2-2) suffered the loss for UW-L, going 1.0 inning, allowing one hit, three runs and three walks while striking out two. Ryan Giesen started for the Eagles, pitching 3.1 innings, allowing five hits, five runs (four earned) and two walks while striking out five.

Fanta was 3-for-5 with two RBI while Cefalu was 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI while Zach Harazin finished 2-for-5. Cordova scored three runs while Brooks Braga scored twice.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, April 16 hosting UW-Stevens Point at noon.