Duluth, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball dropped a pair of games at The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) Sunday at Wade Stadium. The Saints earned a 6-5 win in 12 innings in the opener and 10-7 in the nightcap. UWL, ranked 11th on this week's D3baseball.com Top-25 Poll, falls to 10-5 on the season while St. Scholastica (Minn.) improves to 11-6.
St. Scholastica (Minn.) earned the win in opener on Riley Bernsdorf's walk-off home run to lead-off the bottom of the 12th inning. UWL scored twice in the top of the first inning on
Nate Heili's RBI single and
Alex Robson's sacrifice fly. After the Saints cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the first, the Eagles tallied twice on three hits in the top of the third for a 4-1 advantage. Heili recorded his second run-scoring single to make it 3-1 while
Alex Barnard walked with the bases-loaded to drive in another run.
The Saints cut the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth and then tied the game in the seventh inning on Steven Neutzling's two-run home run.
Alex Brown's solo home run in the top of the eighth gave UWL a 5-4 lead, but St. Scholastica (Minn.) scored an unearned run in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Tim Munn singled to start the eighth and advanced to third on a two-base fielding error by UWL. Munn then scored on Trevor Bernsdorf's RBI single.
UWL finished with 12 hits as Heili went 3-for-6 with two runs and two RBI and
Brady Stolzman finished 3-for-4.
Nate Roethle scored twice.
Brock Rude (1-1) suffered the loss for UWL, pitching 2.2 innings, allowing four hits and one run.
Caleb Boushley started for the Eagles, going 7.0 innings, allowing 10 hits, five runs (four earned) and two walks while striking out seven.
Caleb Willems pitched 1.1 innings, allowing one hit.
St. Scholastica (Minn.) totaled 15 hits as five players recorded at least two. Neutzling went 4-for-6 with one run and two RBI. Joe Gonrowski (2-0) picked up the win for St. Scholastica (Minn.), pitching 4.0 innings in relief, allowing three hits with one strikeout.
UWL took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second in Sunday's nightcap on
Joel Zyhowski's infield single to score
Brennan Schmitt.
St. Scholastica (Minn.) scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the third for a 3-1 lead, highlighted by Riley Bernsdorf two-run double. UWL cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the fourth on
Alex Brown's solo home run, but St. Scholastica (Minn.) scored twice in the bottom of the frame for a 5-2 lead.
The Eagles used a four-run fifth inning to take a 6-5 lead and added a run in the sixth for a 7-5 advantage. In the fifth, Robson's double to score Stolzman cut the lead to 5-3 while Barnard scored on a Saints' error to make it 5-4.
Sam Prissel's two-run triple scored Barnard and Schmitt with a pair of unearned runs to give UWL a 6-5 lead. Stolzman's RBI single knocked in Heili in the sixth.
St. Scholastica (Minn.) responded with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 9-7 lead. Munn was hit-by-pitch with the bases-loaded to cut it to 7-6 and Neutzling then scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. After a walk, Drew Colvard's two-run single gave St. Scholastica (Minn.) a 9-7 lead. A Tyler Duex RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth provided the final scoring of the game.
UWL totaled nine hits in the game with Robson finishing 2-for-5 with a run scored and RBI while Prissel went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Connor Cook (1-1) took the loss for UWL, pitching 1.2 innings, allowing one hit, three runs and four walks while striking out three.
Jameson Lavery started, pitching 3.2 innings, allowing eight hits, five runs (two earned) and two walks while striking out five.
St. Scholastica (Minn.) finished with 13 hits as five players recorded at least two. Riley Bernsdorf finished 3-for-3 with one run and two RBI. Matt Hanson (1-0) earned the win, pitching 1.1 innings, allowing two walks. Isaac Rocha recorded his first save, going 2.1 innings with four strikeouts.
UWL returns to action Saturday, April 8 opening Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play at UW-Whitewater at noon.
