Eau Claire, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team won game one of a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader with UW-Eau Claire 10-5 but dropped game two 8-7 Saturday afternoon at Carson Park. The Eagles are now 23-16 overall and 16-12 in WIAC action while the Blugolds are 13-25 overall, 8-20 in conference play.
 
In the first game, the score remained scoreless until the third inning when the Eagles struck for two runs on two hits. Jordan Williams led off with a single and stole second base. Mac Born then drove in Williams with his second triple of the season. Tim Urlaub then drove in Born with a sacrifice flyto make it 2-0.

UWEC would even the score in the bottom half of the second as they got RBI singles from Drew Salyers and Nate Witte. The Eagles would regain the lead with a run in the fourth inning as Jack Olver drove in a run with a single to give UWL a 3-0 lead.

Then in the fifth inning, UWEC would take the lead  as they scored three runs on five hits. Witte drove in a run with a double while Otto Treichel and Nick Zezulka each drove in a run with singles for the Blugolds to take the 5-3 lead.

The score remained 5-3 headed into the eighth inning when UWL scored five runs to take a 8-5 lead. Zach Carney led off the inning by reaching on an error and advanced to second when Andrew Rajkovich walked. Born was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. Urlaub then singled to score Carney while Rajkovich scored when George Seaman walked. Tommy Nelsen drove in Born with a ground out while Jonathan Wizner drove in both Urlaub and Seaman with a single to right field.

UWL would add two more insurance runs in the ninth inning as Olver drove in both runs with his seventh homerun of the season. Eagle relief pitcher Caleb Matl would retire the Blugolds in order in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win.

Offensively, the Eagles finished with 11 hits and 10 walks. Olver led the Eagles going 4-for-6 with three runs batted in and a run scored. Born was 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Urlaub was 1-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and a run scored.

Matl (4-3) came on for the Eagles in relief to pitch the final 4.1 innings to earn the win on the mound. Matl allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out five. Brady Schmitt started the game for UWL and allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out two.

Matt Moore (3-5) suffered the loss for the Blugolds as he allowed five runs on two hits and two walks in 0.2 innings of work. Witte led the Blugold offense by going 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.

Game two saw the Eagles take a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Seaman led of the inning by being hit by a pitch. Nelsen then drove in Seaman with his third homerun of the season to give UWL a 2-0 lead. After a fly out, Connor Roesler singled and advanced on a single by Ben LaRonge. Carney then drove in Roesler with a single to make the score 3-0. UWEC responded in the bottom of the second by scoring three runs of their own. Scott Richeards drove in a run with a single while Witte singled to drive in two runs and tie the score. 

UWL regained the lead in the top of the third by scoring two runs on three hits. Urlaub walked to start the inning and after a strikeout, Nelsen doubled to score Urlaub. After Nelsen advanced to third on a pass ball, Roesler singled to score Nelsen and give the Eagles a 5-3 lead. UWEC would get a run in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Treichel. With two outs in the top of the fifth, LaRonge doubled and scored on a single by Carney to give the Eagles a 6-4 lead.  

In the sixth inning, Urlaub would reach on a throwing error and advance to second on the play. Seaman then reached on error which moved Urlaub to third. Urlaub would then score when Nelsen reached on an error give a UWL a 7-4 lead. UWEC relief pitcher Ryan Venne would come in and strand both of UWL's runners on base to get out of the jam. UWEC would cut their deficit to 7-6 in the eighth inning as they got RBI singles from Salyers and Witte.

Venne would retire the Eagles in order in the ninth inining and then led off the bottom of the inning with a double. He then advanced to third when Andrew Murphy reached on an error. The Blugolds would then load the bases when Walter Johnson walked with no outs. Venne then scored on a wild pitch to tie the game up at 7 apiece. After David Janssen was Intentionally walked, Matt Melendez drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly. 

Tucker Bouche (1-2) suffered the loss on the mound for the Eagles as he allowed two runs on one hit and one walk. Jacob Bryant started the game on the mound for the Eagles going seven innings and allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out ten. Venne (1-0) earned the win for the Blugolds as he pitched the final 3.2 innings, allowing no runs on two hits and two walks while striking out three. 

Nelsen and LaRonge both finished 3-for-5 to lead the Eagles offense. Nelsen also drove in four runs and scored two runs for the Eagles. Also finishing with multi-hit games for UWL was Carney and Roesler with two hits apiece. Witte led the Blugolds as he was 2-for-4 with three RBIs while Salyers was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one run driven in. 

The Eagles will be back in action next when they travel to UW-Whitewater on Thursday, May 12th to play in the WIAC Baseball Tournament (presented by Culver's). Seeding and the double-elimination tournament schedule  will be announced on Monday, May 9th. UW-Whitewater is the tournament host as they won the regular season championshp.