La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader with the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) Thursday at Copeland Park. The Eagles won the opener, 5-2, before the Tommies came back to win the nightcap, 9-4. UWL is now 13-12 overall while St. Thomas (Minn.) is 16-11.
In Thursday's opener, Caleb Boushley (5-2) set the UWL record for career wins (20), giving up four hits, one run and one walk in 8.0 innings for the Eagles. He struck out nine batters, and retired 13 straight batters at one point during the game. Boushley, now 20-4 in his three-year career, has at least nine strikeouts in his last three starts. He breaks the record of 19 wins held by Ben Cejka (2012-15).
The Eagles got on the board Thursday in the bottom of the third inning. After a single from Nick Pescheck led-off the inning, Alex Brown was hit-by-pitch. Sam Prissel bunted to move the runners, and reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. Joel Zyhowski grounded to second, scoring Pescheck, and Brown scored on a throwing error by the shortstop to make it 2-0. The next batter was Nate Heili, who hit a two-run hom run, driving in Zyhowski to give UWL a 4-0 lead.
Nate Heili hit his first home run of the season Thursday.
St. Thomas (Minn.) got a run back in the fourth with a Sam Cobbs home run to make it 4-1. In the eighth, Brady Stolzman homered for UWL, giving the Eagles a 5-1 advantage. The Tommies added a run in the ninth on a RBI groundout from Hunter Hart, and the final was 5-2.
Ryan Zimmerman (4-3) took the loss for St. Thomas (Minn.), giving up four runs on three hits in 7.0 innings. He struck out five and walked three batters.
The teams combined for 10 hits in game one.
In the nightcap, UWL took an early lead in the bottom of the first. Zyhowski doubled down the right field line to open the game, followed by a Heili infield single, and a walk from Stolzman to load the bases with nobody out. Alex Robson grounded out to short, scoring Zyhowski to make it 1-0. Next up was Nate Roethle, who reached on an error by the second baseman, allowing Stolzman and Heili to score to make it 3-0.
Back-to-back homers in the top of the third from Jake Smith and Cobbs for St. Thomas (Minn.) cut the lead to 3-2, and the Tommies added two more runs in the fourth to lead 4-3.
The Eagles tied it up at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth after Prissel scored on a fielder's choice. He had singled to open the frame, and advanced to third on a wild pitch and a throwing error by the catcher.
The Tommies added two in the fifth, both on walks with the bases loaded, and two unearned runs in the seventh to lead 8-4. A Charlie Callahan homer for St. Thomas (Minn.) in the eighth made it 9-4 to complete the scoring.
Henry DeCaster (6-0) earned the victory for St. Thomas (Minn.), allowing four runs (two earned) on 10 hits in 8.0 innings of work. He struck out seven and walked three batters. Jack Smith went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored. He also walked three times in the game.
James Witt (0-1) took the loss for UWL in game two. He allowed two runs on two hits in an inning of work, striking out one and walking two batters. Zach Pronschinske started the game, giving up four runs on seven hits in 3.0 innings. He struck out three and walked one. Heili went 3-for-3 with a run scored while Prissel was 3-for-4, also scoring a run.
UWL returns to action Saturday, April 22 hosting the UW-Stout at noon.
