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Box Score 2 Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team split a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) doubleheader at UW-Eau Claire Friday afternoon at Carson Park. UWL lost the first game, 9-6, before coming back to take the nightcap, 14-7. The Eagles are now 22-15 and 15-11 in the WIAC while the Blugolds are 12-24 overall and 7-19 in the conference.
UW-Eau Claire took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first in the opener on Nate Witte's solo home run. The Blugolds added a pair of runs in the bottom of the second as Nick Zezulka singled and scored on Andrew Murphy's two-run home run.
George Seaman went 2-for-4 with two runs in the nightcap.
UWL got on the scoreboard in the top of the third to cut the lead to 3-1. Zach Carney walked to lead-off the inning, went to second on a passed ball and scored on Jordan Williams' RBI double. UW-Eau Claire took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the inning on Otto Treichel's solo home run.
The Eagles tallied three runs in the fourth to force a 4-4 tie. Jonathan Wizner walked, Tim Urlaub singled and George Seaman knocked in both runners with a three-run home run. The Blugolds quickly took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run from Drew Salyers. UWL took its first lead of the game in the fifth. Jack Olver reached on a UW-Eau Claire error and scored on Mac Born's double to tie the game at 5-5. Seaman later delivered a bases-loaded single to score Born and give UWL a one-run lead.
Diego Caicedo's solo home run in the bottom of the sixth tied the game at 6-6. In the seventh, Walter Johnson's two-out three-run home run gave UW-Eau Claire a 9-6 lead, scoring Treichel and David Janssen.
UWL loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, but failed to score. UWL finished with eight hits in the opener with Williams and Seaman each having two. Seaman had four RBI while six different players scored a run. Alex Redman (4-4) suffered the loss, pitching 4.2 innings, allowing three hits, four runs and one walk with five strikeouts. Alex Mach started for the Eagles, going 3.1 innings, allowing eight hits, five runs and one walk while striking out three.
Zach Carney recorded his 200th career hit.
UW-Eau Claire totaled 11 hits with Zekulka, Johnson, Treichel and Witte each finishing with two. The Blugolds hit six home runs in the game. Matt Moore (3-4) earned the victory, pitching 3.0 innings, allowing one hit and three walks with three srikeouts.
In the nightcap, UW-Eau Claire would score first in the bottom of the first as Witte came home as Treichel was caught stealing at second. UWL would respond in the top of the second with Tommy Nelsen's sacrifice fly scoring Urlaub to even the score at 1-1. Seaman came home on a UW-Eau Claire error to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. Olver and Born hit back-to-back home runs to lead off the top the third inning to extend the Eagles lead to 4-1. The Blugolds got back on the board in the bottom of the frame on a Witte RBI single.
UWL scored six runs in the top of the fourth. Urlaub's single scored Carney and Born while Nelsen later hit a grand slam for a 10-2 lead.
UW-Eau Claire closed it to 10-4 in the bottom of the fourth with RBI sacrifice flies from Scott Richards and Drew Slayers, but the Eagles kept pace in the top of the fifth on Born's 2-run home run.
The Blugolds scored a pair of runs on Eagles' mistakes, including a wild pitch in the sixth inning and a throwing error in the seventh. Carney's sacrifice fly in the eighth brought in Connor Roesler, and Born scored on a wild pitch in the ninth to go up 14-6. In the bottom of the ninth, the Blugolds scored on Joe Clinton's RBI single and were able to load the bases, but failed to get any closer.
UWL had 13 hits with eight players recording a hit, including two hits each from Olver, Born, Urlaub, Seaman and Nelsen. Nelsen finished with five RBI while Born scored four times with two home runs and three RBI.
Tim Urlaub (left) and Jack Olver.
Carney registered his 200th career hit in the nightcap. He becomes the seventh player in school history to record 200 in a career.
Tucker Bouche (1-1) earned the victory for UWL, allowing one run on one hit with two strikeouts on 2.1 innings. Preston Piranio recorded his first save, going 3.2 innings, allowing four hits, two unearned runs and three walks while striking out five.
UW-Eau Claire had eight hits in the nightcap, two coming from Witte and Murphy. Anthony Scimone (1-5) suffered the loss, allowing eight runs on 10 hits while striking out six batters in 3.2 innings.
The teams will play another doubleheader Saturday, May 7 at noon.
