Minneapolis, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team dropped a non-conference doubleheader to the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Tommies took the opener, 5-1, and the nightcap, 3-1. UWL, receiving votes on D3baseball.com, falls to 0-3-1 on the season while St. Thomas (Minn.) improves to 6-1.
In the opener, the Tommies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second as Kyle Halverson scored on an Eagles' error. St. Thomas (Minn.) added to its lead with four runs in the top of the third for a 5-0 lead. Matt Enck scored on a passed ball to make it 2-0 while Josh Thorp came in on a wild pitch for a 3-0 lead. Charlie Bartholomew's two-run single scored Halverson and Chandler Schaefbauer.
UWL got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth.
Zach Carney was hit-by-pitch to start the inning and advanced to second
Shane Coker's groundout. After a strikeout,
Carson Youngquist delivered a two-out single to knock in Carney to make it 5-1.
The Eagles left two runners on base in both the fifth and sixth innings
Zach Pronschinske (0-2) suffered the loss for UWL, pitching 2.1 innings, allowing three hits, five runs (three earned) and four walks with four strikeouts.
Alex Schulte went 4.2 innings, allowing three hits and one run with one strikeout. UWL totaled four hits with Youngquist going 2-for-3 and an RBI.
Andrew Tri (2-0) earned the win for St. Thomas (Minn.), pitching 7.0 innings, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out 11. The Tommies finished with six hits. Halverson went 2-for-3 with two runs and one walk while Bartholomew finished 2-fo-2 with two RBI and a walk.
UWL took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first in the nightcap. Carney walked to start the game, stole second and advanced to third on Coker's groundout. Youngquist followed with a run-scoring groundout to knock in Carney for the first run of the game.
St. Thomas (Minn.) tied the game in the bottom of the third with an unearned run. Jordan Amundson reached on a throwing error to start the inning and later scored on Avery Lehman's two-out double. The Tommies took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Dan Bollingberg had a lead-off walk and scored on Thorp's triple to give St. Thomas (Minn.) a one-run lead. Halverson followed with another triple to score Thorp to make it 3-1.
UWL was held to two hits in the nightcap, one each from
Tommy Nelsen and
Connor Roesler.
Connor Cook (0-1) took the loss for the Eagles, going 5.0 innings, allowing five hits, three runs (two earned) and one walk with three strikeouts.
Garrett McGraw went 1.0 inning, allowing one hit with one strikeout.
Graham Laubscher (1-1) picked up the victory for St. Thomas (Minn.), going 6.0 innings. He allowed two hits, one run and three walks with five strikeouts. Shaun Falbo recorded his first save of the season, pitching 1.0 inning with two strikeouts.
UWL returns to action Thursday, March 12 in Winter Haven, Florida. The Eagles face the University of Dubuque (Iowa) at 4 p.m. (Central).
