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Box Score 2 Menomonie, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team remained undefeated in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play with a doubleheader sweep at UW-Stout Sunday afternoon at Nelson Field. The Eagles won the opener, 13-1 in seven innings, and the nightcap, 7-0. It is UWL's third shutout of the season.
UWL, ranked ninth on this week's D3baseball.com Top-25 Poll, improves to 23-6 overall and 12-0 in the WIAC while UW-Stout drops to 11-17 overall and 3-9 in the conference.
UWL has now scored at least 10 runs in 16 of 29 games this year, including seven of the last nine. The team has recorded double-digit hits in 25 of 29 games this season.
The Eagles raced out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first in Sunday's opener.
Alex Cordova scored the first run of the game on a UW-Stout wild pitch.
Carter Hoffman followed with a bunt single to knock in
Taylor Kohlwey for a 2-0 lead.
Justin Anderson scored on a wild pitch and Hoffman came in on a Blue Devils' error. UWL added a pair of runs in the top of third as Anderson scored on
Ben Morgan's groundout and Hoffman came in on a bases-loaded walk to
Nate Heili.
The Eagles tallied three times in the fifth inning and added four in the sixth to take a 13-0 lead.
Alex Brown hit a two-run home run in the fifth and Travis Buxton Verstegen scored on a Blue Devils' error. Hoffman and Cordova each had run-scoring singles in the sixth while Brown added a two-run single.
UW-Stout scored its run in the bottom of the seventh on Jordan Wilson's two-out single knocking in Brady Burzynski.
Caleb Boushley (5-0) earned the win for UWL, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing five hits and one run (unearned) while striking out seven.
UWL finished with 16 hits in Sunday's opener as eight of nine starters recorded a hit and scored a run. Hoffman went 5-for-5 with two RBI and four runs scored while Cordova, Kohlwey, Anderson and Brown each had two hits. Brown finished with four RBI while Anderson scored three times.
Kellen Pearson (2-3) suffered the loss for UW-Stout, going 2.1 innings while allowing four hits, five runs (four earned) and one walk. The Blue Devils totaled six hits with Burzynski finishing 2-for-4 with a run scored.
UWL took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first in the nightcap as
Joel Zyhowski scored on a Kohlwey double and Cordova scored on Anderson's sacrifice fly. Kohlwey tied the school record for career doubles (50) with his double in the first inning. He ties the record of
Vinnie Rottino (1999-2002).
Kohlwey scored on Heili's fielder's choice in the top of the fifth to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead. UWL tallied four runs with two outs in the top of the seventh with Hoffman scoring on Buxton-Verstegen's bases-loaded walk and Brown,
Seth Feldman and Buxton-Verstegen coming in on Zyhowski's three-run double.
Troy Kenkel (5-2) picked up the win for UWL in Sunday's nightcap. He went 7.0 innings, allowing three hits and one walk with five strikeouts.
Logan Mallek pitched 2.0 innings, allowing two hits while striking out two.
The Eagles finished with 10 hits in the nightcap as Zyhowski and Cordova both went 3-for-5 with a run scored. Zyhowski finished with three RBI.
Kohlwey extended his hitting streak to 32 games dating back to last season with hits in each game Sunday. The 32-game hitting streak ranks third in single-season WIAC history. Kohlwey (April 6, 2014 to March 21, 2015) and UW-Stout's Brad O'Connell (April 28, 2000 to May 5, 2001) hold the conference record with 37-game hitting streaks.
Cordova extended his hitting streak to 21 games Sunday while Anderson saw his 18-game hitting streak snapped in Sunday's nightcap.
Zach Carlson (2-3) suffered the loss for UW-Stout in Sunday's second game, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing seven hits, three runs and four walks with three strikeouts.
The Blue Devils were held to three singles.
UWL returns to action Thursday, April 28 hosting St. Olaf College (Minn.) in a non-conference doubleheader starting at 2:30 p.m. at Copeland Park.
