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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Jake Lewis
Jade Jensen

Baseball Bryce Harp

Yellowjackets Advance to Day Two of the UMAC Playoffs

Box Score

The Yellowjackets baseball team was back in action Thursday, as they traveled across the bridge to Wade Stadium in Duluth, Minn. for the first round of the UMAC playoffs. With this being the Yellowjackets first year in the UMAC, they were looking to see if they could make a splash at the tournament
 
Northwestern 5, Yellowjackets 4
 
The opening game of the tournament featured the third ranked Yellowjackets taking on the second ranked team out of Northwestern in what was an exciting back-and-forth affair.

Northwestern struck first in this matchup, stringing together back-to-back hits to take a 1-0 lead after one inning. The Yellowjackets answered right back in the top of the second.

Travis Miller (Whittier, Calif./La Serna) led off the inning with a single to left field. Drew Thomas (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) then hit a single to right center. Miller and Thomas then both advanced into scoring position on an error from the Eagles right fielder. Chad Patko (Stone Lake, Wis./Hayward) made Northwestern pay for their defensive miscue, sending a sacrifice fly to left field to score Miller to tie the game up at 1-1.

The Yellowjackets briefly took the lead in the fourth, as Thomas hit a two-out double to left center before coming around to score on a Patko single to left field, giving the Yellowjackets a 2-1 lead after the top of the fourth. Northwestern would score in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game up at 2-2, but the Yellowjackets would quickly go back to work.

Kyle Bellin (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) led off the sixth inning with a double to right center. Elvis Artiles Cuello (Domincan Republic/Colegio Dominicano DeLaSalle) then hit a double down the leftfield line to score Bellin, giving the Yellowjackets a 3-2 lead. Two batters later Patko knocked in his third RBI of the game, asending a single through the left side to give the Yellowjackets as 4-2 lead.

Northwestern would score one in the seventh, marking the end of the day for Yellowjacket start Grant Schneider (Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial). Boone Elkins (Riverside, Calif./Arlington) came in to relieve Schneider, getting the final two outs of the inning before cruising through the eight and getting two quick outs in the ninth.

This is where everything unraveled in a hurry for the Yellowjackets. Elkins hit the next batter he faced before giving up a ground-rule double down the right field line, spelling the end of his day. Jake Lewis (Proctor, Minn./Proctor) then came in to close the game up, but gave up back-to-back singles to right field as Northwestern came from behind for the walk-off win.

Schneider started for the Yellowjackets, allowing three runs (two earned) on 10 hits while walking three and striking out six in 6.1 innings pitched. Elkins took the loss in the game, pitching the next 2.1 innings, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out three. Lewis faced two batters, giving up two hits without getting an out.
 
Yellowjackets 3, Minnesota Morris 2
 
After dropping the first game of the tournament, the Yellowjackets bounced back strong in the second game.

The Yellowjackets struck first in this matchup. Alex Osness (Wausau, Wis./West) drew a one out walk, advancing to second on a Greg Pitts (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) single to left field. Kyle Bellin (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) then hit a single of his own to left field to load the bases for Elvis Artiles Cuello (Domincan Republic/Colegio Dominicano DeLaSalle). Cuello hit into a fielder's choices, as Osness scored to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead after three innings.

That lead got pushed to 2-0 in the fourth. Drew Thomas (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) hit a leadoff single through the left side then advanced to second on a passed ball. Jake Irlbeck (Centerville, Minn./Centennial) then sent a single to center field, as Thomas raced around the bases to score the Yellowjackets second run.

Minnesota Morris would score in the fifth and the sixth to tie the game up at 2-2, but the Yellowjackets would answer right back in the bottom of the sixth.

Seth Wage (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) opened up the inning with a single to the hole in short. The Yellowjackets then used some small ball as Osness moved Wage into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Pitts then sent a single to right field allowing Wage to come around to score, giving the Yellowjackets a 3-2 lead.

Yellowjackets starter Jake Lewis (Proctor, Minn./Proctor) took over from that point. Lewis put the Cougars down in order in the seventh and the eight. In the ninth, Lewis put the first two batters down before getting the third to strikeout. Unfortunately, the strikeout was on a wild pitch so Lewis would need to get one more batter out. That was no problem, as the final batter of the game was out on a fly ball in foul territory that Cuello caught along the wall.

Lewis allowed two runs on nine hits while walking four and striking out four in his complete game gem. The victory moves him to 3-5 on the season.

The Yellowjackets will be back in action tomorrow, Friday, May 12 when they have a rematch against Northwestern in the UMAC playoffs. First pitch from Wade Stadium is set for 1:00 p.m.
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Players Mentioned

Elvis Artiles Cuello

#2 Elvis Artiles Cuello

OF
6' 0"
Junior
R/R
Kyle Bellin

#5 Kyle Bellin

IF
5' 11"
Junior
R/R
Jake Lewis

#12 Jake Lewis

P
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Chad Patko

#8 Chad Patko

IF
5' 8"
Junior
R/R
Greg Pitts

#11 Greg Pitts

OF
6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
Grant Schneider

#21 Grant Schneider

P
6' 3"
Junior
R/R
Seth Wage

#32 Seth Wage

OF
5' 10"
Senior
R/L
Alex Osness

#24 Alex Osness

IF
6' 1"
Freshman
L/R
Drew Thomas

#25 Drew Thomas

OF
6' 2"
Freshman
R/R
Boone Elkins

#30 Boone Elkins

P
6' 1"
Freshman
L/L
Travis Miller

#33 Travis Miller

IF
6' 3"
Freshman
R/R
Jake Irlbeck

#28 Jake Irlbeck

C
6' 0"
Junior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Elvis Artiles Cuello

#2 Elvis Artiles Cuello

6' 0"
Junior
R/R
OF
Kyle Bellin

#5 Kyle Bellin

5' 11"
Junior
R/R
IF
Jake Lewis

#12 Jake Lewis

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
P
Chad Patko

#8 Chad Patko

5' 8"
Junior
R/R
IF
Greg Pitts

#11 Greg Pitts

6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
OF
Grant Schneider

#21 Grant Schneider

6' 3"
Junior
R/R
P
Seth Wage

#32 Seth Wage

5' 10"
Senior
R/L
OF
Alex Osness

#24 Alex Osness

6' 1"
Freshman
L/R
IF
Drew Thomas

#25 Drew Thomas

6' 2"
Freshman
R/R
OF
Boone Elkins

#30 Boone Elkins

6' 1"
Freshman
L/L
P
Travis Miller

#33 Travis Miller

6' 3"
Freshman
R/R
IF
Jake Irlbeck

#28 Jake Irlbeck

6' 0"
Junior
R/R
C