La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team split a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) doubleheader with UW-Stout Friday afternoon at Copeland Park. The Eagles won the opener, 6-5, before the Blue Devils took the nightcap, 12-6.  UWL is now 15-9 overall and 8-8 in the WIAC while UW-Stout is 11-11 overall and 8-8 in the conference.

UWL rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off victory in the opener. Jonathan Wizner walked to start the inning and advanced to second on a Zac Carney single. Both runners advanced into scoring position after a Trevor Miller balk. Brennan Schmitt followed with a two-run single to right center to tie the game. Ethan Gerstner's sacrifice bunt moved Schmitt to second and Shane Coker delivered the game-winning single down the right field line to score Schmitt.   

UW-Stout had taken a 5-3 lead in the top of the ninth with a pair of runs. Paul Weise singled home Riley Boushack with the go-ahead run and Colin Hageman scored on a sacrifice bunt from Dan Deis. The Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead in the third on Charlie Szykowny's home run. UW-Stout made it 3-0 in the fifth on Hunter Merrill's two-run home run. 

UWL cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh on Schmitt's RBI single to knock in Wizner. The Eagles tied it in the bottom of the eighth. Coker was hit-by-pitch with one out and advanced to third on Mac Born's double. Andrew Rajkovich then delivered a pinch-hit two-run double to tie the game. 

Alex Mach (2-1) earned the win for UWL, pitching 4.0 innings of relief. He allowed two hits, two runs and one walk while striking out four. Sawyer Phillips started, going 5.0 innings, allowing six hits, three runs and two walks with six strikeouts. The Eagles finished with 11 hits in the opener with Wizner, Carney, Schmitt and Born each having two. Wizner scored twice while Schmitt had three RBI. 

Miller (1-1) suffered the loss for UW-Stout. He went 0.1 of an inning, allowing three hits, three runs and one walk. Cody Urban started, going 8.0 innings, allowing eight hits, three runs and four walks while striking out four. The Blue Devils had eight hits with Szykowny going 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Merrill went 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI. 
 

In the nightcap, UWL took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on Schmitt's solo home run. UW-Stout took a 2-1 lead in the third on run-scoring singles from Joel Thimsen and Kasey Bass. The Blue Devils made it 4-1 in the fourth on a Deis' RBI ground out and Szykowny RBI double. 

The Eagles cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth with Rajkovich scored on Gerstner's sacrifice fly. UW-Stout made it 5-3 in the top of the fifth on a solo home run from Alex Jinkins.  UWL took a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the inning on Rajkovich's three-run home run. Szykowny tied the game in the top of the sixth on a RBI single. The Blue Devils took an 8-6 lead in the seventh as Thimsen doubled and scored on a two-run home run from Bass. UW-Stout added four unearned runs in the ninth on Hageman's single and Justin Schnell's three-run home run. 

Jack Durst (0-1) suffered the loss for UWL, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing five hits and four runs (three earned) while striking out two. Brady Schmitt started, going 4.0 innings, allowing six hits, four runs and two walks with five strikeouts. The Eagles totaled 13 hits with Schmitt going 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI and Coker finishing 3-for-4. Connor Roesler went 2-for-5 with an RBI while Rajkovich finished 1-for-3 with two runs and three RBI. 

Alex Manz (2-0) picked up the victory for UW-Stout, going 4.0 innings, allwoing three hits. The Blue Devils had 15 hits with eight starters recording at least one. Hageman went 3-for-5 with two runs while Szykowny, Merrill, Thimsen, Bass and Jinkins each had two hits. Bass and Schnell each finished with three RBI. 

The teams will play a non-conference doubleheader Saturday, April 24 at 1 p.m.