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Joe Ahrens

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Yellowjackets split offensive shootout with Stout

Joe Ahrens


The UW-Stout baseball team welcomed a new head coach into the fold this season with the hiring of Toby Gardenhire.  If the name sounds familiar, it should, as he is the son of longtime Minnesota Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire.  For those who follow the Twins, it's no secret that offense is a monumental problem for the team early in the 2012 season.  Well maybe father could learn something from son.

Offense was anything but limited in Wednesday's doubleheader between the Yellowjackets and the Blue Devils, as the teams combined to score 42 runs and bang out 57 hits with each team taking a game - the Blue Devils the opener and the Yellowjackets the rematch.

Game 1
Stout 15, Yellowjackets 7
Box Score

The Yellowjackets jumped on the Blue Devils early, once again finding a way to put offense up in the first inning, but a late surge by the Blue Devil bats quickly took care of any lead and sent them on their way to the win.

In the top of the first the numbers three and four hitters, two players that have been getting it done with the bats all season long, staked the Yellowjackets to the lead.  With two down in the inning, Jeff Miller (Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn) singled and scored when #T.J. Evanson# hit his team-leading sixth home run of the season and it was 2-0.

Stout tied it with two of their own in the bottom of the second.  Jon Schoch led off the inning with a solo home run.  Matt Guida and A.J. Yusten quickly followed with back-to-back singles and a big inning was in the works.  The Yellowjackets retired the next two hitters, but with two outs Jake Duske singled to tie it 2-2.

The Yellowjackets regained the lead in the top of the third.  Wyatt Soderquist (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) led off with a double and went to third on a sacrifice fly.  He would score on Evanson's RBI single to center field and it was 3-2.  Later in the inning a Shaun Marshall (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) single would bring Evanson home and the lead was once again two runs.

But as quickly as the lead came, it evaporated, as the Blue Devils had their first big inning of the day in the bottom half of the third.  With one out Ben Yaucher and Schoch singled to put two on.  Yaucher came home on a Guida double to pull Stout to within one.  A hit batsman loaded the bases, and again the Yellowjackets would get to two outs, but they were unable to close the inning.  With the bases full Charlie Meyer doubled, scoring all three runners and the Yellowjackets trailed 6-4.

Casey Dittel (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) led off the top of the fourth with a single and came around to score on a Miller ground out to pull the Yellowjackets back to within one at 6-5. 

A pair of walks and a wild pitch put a pair of runners in scoring position to open the bottom of the fifth for Stout.  A Brett Vavra sacrifice fly and a Meyer single brought both runners home to stretch the lead to 8-5 for the Blue Devils. 

Dittel singled to lead off the sixth.  Tony Remund (Andover, Minn./Coon Rapids) and Soderquist followed with walks to load the bases with nobody out, and the Yellowjackets had the makings for their own big inning.  A Miller ground ball brought home a run to again pull the Yellowjackets to within two at 8-6.  The following two hitters were retired, and the Yellowjacket threat was quickly extinguished.

Just as Stout had done all game, they answered the Yellowjacket runs with scores of their own, plating three runs in the bottom of the sixth.  Two runs came across on a two-run home run by Schoch.  These runs followed an RBI single from Yaucher and suddenly it was 11-6.

In the top of the eighth Remund reached on an error and went to second on a passed ball.  Soderquist would follow with a double, scoring Remund to make it 11-7.

Once again the Blue Devils had an answer, and then some.  With two outs, the Blue Devils rallied to score four times by stringing together four consecutive hits.  The big blow coming from Meyer with a two-run single.  Vavra and Yusten also had run-producing hits, making the final score 15-7.

Dittel, Marshall, Evanson and Soderquist paced the Yellowjackets in the first game, all going 2-4.  Evanson scored twice and also drove in three runs.

Mike Swanson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) got the started and lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up eight runs (seven earned) on ten hits to go along with three walks and two strikeouts.  Andrew Lange (Swanville, Minn./Little Falls), Travis Elwood (Ramsey, Minn./Anoka) and Alex Beers (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) combined to pitch the final 3 2/3 innings, giving up seven earned runs on seven hits.

Schoch and Guida each went 3-4 and scored four runs for the Blue Devils.  Schoch drove in three runs via the long ball.  Meyer went 3-5 and drove in five runs.

Cory Hedeen was the starter for Stout, picking up the win after pitching five innings, giving up five runs on ten hits.  Three pitchers out of the bullpen pitched the final three innings and shut down the Yellowjacket offense.

Game 2
Yellowjackets 11, Stout 9
Box Score

The Yellowjackets again took control of the game early, but some late inning offense from Stout gave this one drama up until the final out was recorded.

In the top of the second Robbie Veith (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) reached on an error to lead off the inning.  Tom Fairbanks (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) followed with a single to put runners on first and third.  Veith scored on a Marshall ground out to make it 1-0.  Later Fairbanks came around to score on a Joe Ahrens (Worthington, Minn./Worthington) double to make it 2-0.  Ahrens would later score on a passed ball and it was 3-0 Yellowjackets after two innings.

The lead increased in the top of the fourth.  With two outs Remund and Soderquist singled back-to-back.  Both runners came around to score on Miller's double down the right field line and the Yellowjackets led 5-0.

It went to 7-0 two innings later.  Ahrens led off with a single and Dittel followed with a single of his own.  Remund bunted both runners into scoring position and Soderquist singled them both home.  The Yellowjackets were cruising.

Stout was finally able to break through in the bottom of the sixth.  Starter Ethan Branum (Nisswa, Minn./Brainerd) kept the potent offense at bay through five, but Duske led off the sixth with a home run and the Blue Devils were on the board.  Ryan Gangestad later singled and went to second on a passed ball.  With two outs, Schoch doubled, scoring Gangestad to make it 7-2.  It went to 7-3 when Guida singled up the middle, scoring Schoch.

The Yellowjackets answered the Stout runs with a three-spot of their own in the top of the seventh.  With one out Veith and Fairbanks each reached on errors to put two runners on.  Marshall singled, scoring Veith to make it an 8-3 game.  Ahrens singled to load the bases and Dittel walked, forcing home the second run of the inning.  A Remund sacrifice fly scored another run, and it was 10-3 Yellowjackets when the game hit the seventh inning stretch.

The Blue Devils got a run back on Meyer's solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 10-4.  The Yellowjackets answered that run with a run of their own in the eighth, as Miller led off with his second home run of the year to make it 11-4.

After the Yellowjackets went down in order in the top of the ninth, the fun began.  Meyer led off with a single and Duske doubled to put runners on the corners.  Santiago Morales singled to right field and scored both runners on the play to make it 11-6.  After a fly out, Yaucher singled up the middle to put two runners on.  Schoch followed with a double, scoring Morales and the lead was shaved to 11-7.  Cody Johnson (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna), who started the ninth inning was relieved by Bobby Tyndall (Ashland, Wis./Ashland), but he didn't fare much better.

Tyndall got the second out, but then issued a walk to Yusten to load the bases.  Vavra singled to right field, scoring two more runs and it was 11-9.  Tyndall was relieved by Nick Bursik (Woodbury, Minn./Stillwater), who came on and induced Meyer to ground out, ending the game and giving the Yellowjackets the split.

Soderquist and Ahrens each went 3-5 in the game while Miller, Fairbanks and Dittel had two hits each.  Miller drove in three runs while Soderquist and Marshall each had two RBI.

Branum got the victory for the Yellowjackets, improving to 3-1 on the year.  He pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up four earned runs on seven hits.  He walked four and struck out three.  Bursik got the save after retiring his only hitter faced.

Duske led the way for Stout, going 3-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.  Meyer, Schoch and Gangestad also had two hits for the Blue Devils.

The Yellowjackets (12-9, 3-3 WIAC) will remain on the road this weekend, when they play four games at UW-Stevens Point.  The Pointers, who were picked to finish atop the WIAC standings in the pre-season poll, are currently ranked 12th in the nation.  Games will be at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15.
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