La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team earned a tripleheader sweep of Finlandia University (Mich.) Monday at Copeland Park. The Eagles won the opener, 4-2, the second game, 18-0, and the third game, 6-3. All three games were seven innings. UWL improves to 8-4 overall and 4-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while Finlandia (Mich.) falls to 3-11 overall and 0-4 in the conference. 

UWL is now 12-0 all-time versus Finlandia (Mich.). 

In the opener, Finlandia (Mich.) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with Jacob Mead stealing third and scoring on a UWL throwing error from pitcher Alex Mach. UWL tied the game in the bottom of the first. Jonathan Wizner walked to start the inning and moved to third on Jack Olver's double. Wizner then scored off a Lions' passed ball to tie the game at 1-1. The Eagles took a 3-1 lead in the second inning. Colton Schraepfer walked and advanced to third on a Finlandia (Mich.) fielding error on Wizner's at-bat. Schraepfer scored on Mac Born's fielder's choice RBI to give UWL a 2-1 advantage. Olver followed with an RBI single to knock in Born to make it 3-1. 

The Lions cut it to 3-2 in the third. Jordan D'Angelo scored on an Eagles' fielding error as Mead stole second on the play. Zach Carney's solo home run in the bottom of the fifth gave UWL a 4-2 lead. Finlandia (Mich.) had runners on first and third with one out in the top of the sixth, but UWL's Chris Seveska struck out Jacob Glarner and got the final out on a fielder's choice. The Lions had a one-out single in the seventh, but Seveska retired the next two batters to earn the save. 

Mach (2-0) earned the win, pitching 4.1 innings, allowing four hits, two runs (one earned) with three walks and six strikeouts. Seveska picked up his first save, going 2.2 innings, allowing three hits while striking out four. The Eagles had five hits with Olver and Carney each finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI. 

Finlandia (Mich.) totaled seven hits in the opener with D'Angelo going 3-for-4 with a run scored. Chance White finished 2-for-3. Cole Fransen (0-1) suffered the loss, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing three hits, three runs (none earned) and four walks with six strikeouts.

Alex Redman and Tucker Bouche combined on the shutout in the second game. Redman (2-1) earned the victory, going 6.0 innings while allowing four hits and three walks with eight strikeouts. Bouche pitched 1.0 inning, recording two strikeouts.  
 

UWL scored five runs in the bottom of the second. Carney was hit-by-pitch and scored on Schraepfer's run-scoring double. Anthony Vivian later hit a two-run home run to make it 3-0. Consecutive doubles from Wizner, Born and Olver gave UWL a 5-0 lead. Ty Hamilton hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth for a 6-0 lead. Jack Kelly and Schraepfer each had RBI singles in the inning while Logan Pye added a sacrifice fly. 

The Eagles scored eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Schraepfer had a run-scoring single followed by Pye's three-run home run. Born had a fielder's choice to knock in a run while a pair of runners scored on wild pitches. Jordan Williams finished the scoring with an RBI single.

UWL finished with 15 hits in the second game as Schraepfer went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs. Wizner, Born and Olver all finished with two hits and two RBI. Born scored three times with Wizner, Olver, Carney and Hamilton scoring twice. Pye had a game-high four RBI. 

Jeff Bishop (0-1) took the loss for Finlandia (Mich.), pitching 4.0 innings, allowing 11 hits and 10 runs (eight earned) with six strikeouts. Four different players had a hit for the Lions.

The Lions took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third in the final game of the day, Brandon Gaskin had an RBI double and Josh Merced an RBI single. The Eagles scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Wizner and Born singled with one out and scored on Born's double to left-center. Olver later scored on a wild pitch to give UWL a one-run lead. UWL took a 6-2 lead with three runs in the fourth. Vivian hit a lead-off home run to make it 4-2. Pye later scored on a passed ball and Tim Urlaub came in on Wizner's sacrifice bunt.  

Finlandia (Mich.) cut the lead to 6-3 in the top of the fifth. Chance White doubled and scored on Mead's single. The Lions left two runners on base in the inning. 

Jake Perinovic (1-0) picked up the victory for UWL. He pitched 4.0 innings, allowing six hits, three runs and three walks while striking out seven. Caleb Matl earned his second save, going 3.0 innings with eight strikeouts. The Eagles had eight hits in the game with Born finishing 2-for-3. Olver had two RBI. Six different players scored a run.  

Brandon Hale (0-1) suffered the loss for Finlandia (Mich.), going 6.0 innings, allowing six hits and six runs with six strikeouts. The Lions had six hits with Gaskin finishing 2-for-4 and an RBI.

UWL returns to action Tuesday, March 29 hosting Saint Mary's University (Minn.) at 2 p.m.