The UW-Superior baseball team entered the day as one of just seven teams in NCAA Division III that had yet to take the field in 2017. That changed Sunday as the Yellowjackets opened the campaign against Allegheny (Pa.) University in Tucson, Ariz. The game was the first of the day for the Yellowjackets, while Allegheny had already played a game earlier in the day, winning in dramatic come-from-behind fashion.
It was a harbinger of things to come.
The Yellowjackets (0-1) got a bases-clearing double from Braden Barr in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 13-12 lead, but the Gators rallied in the top of the ninth, scoring five runs on the way to a 17-13 win.
The two teams combined for 30 runs and 38 hits, and the eight pitchers (four each side) combined to throw 404 pitches in the marathon.
Allegheny picked up right where it left off in its first game of the day, grabbing a 4-0 lead in the top of the first. The Yellowjackets answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases and plating a pair of runs on a single by Matt Boyde to cut into the Gators' lead.
The Yellowjackets kept the offense flowing in the bottom of the second.
Chad Patko (Stone Lake, Wis./Hayward H.S.) brought home the first run with a single through the left side.
Travis Miller (Whittier, Calif./La Serna H.S.) followed with a fielder's choice that scored a pair of runs, giving the Yellowjackets their first lead of the day. Barr later drove in Miller giving the Yellowjackets a two-run lead after two.
After a rocky first inning Yellowjacket starter
Grant Schneider (Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial H.S.) settled down and kept the Gators off the board for three innings. Allegeheny's bats woke up in the fifth and they regained the lead with a three-run inning. The Gators scored twice more in the sixth to move ahead 9-6.
In the bottom of the seventh the Yellowjackets pulled back to within one.
Nik Mattson (Superior, Wis./Superior H.S.), who had a huge day going 5-for-5, led off with a double and came around to score on a bases loaded walk. After a pitching change Barr reached on an error and
Greg Pitts (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel H.S.) scored to make it a 9-8 game.
Allegheny answered with a three-run eighth, only to watch the Yellowjackets score five times in the bottom of the inning to take the lead once again.
Colin Welch (Acton, Calif./Golden Valley H.S.) got things started with a single. Pinch runner
Mike Rodriguez (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech H.S.) then went to third on a single by Mattson. Rodriguez scored on a single by
Brandon Rolf (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater H.S.), and then Rolf and pinch runner
Nick McNosky (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle H.S.) moved up a base on a Pitts single to center. A run scored on a Patko walk, setting the stage for Barr's double into the right field corner, emptying the bases and putting the Yellowjackets in front.
Barr took to the mound in the top of the ninth to try and close things out, but the Gators once again had an answer, scoring five runs of their own to make the final margin 17-13.
The Yellowjackets slapped out 20 hits in their season debut, led by Mattson's five and Barr's three. Pitts, Patko, and Boyde also had multi-hit games.
Schneider pitched five innings for the Yellowjackets and allowed seven runs (six earned) on seven hits in five innings of work. He walked three and struck out two.
Brady Stocker (River Falls, Wis./River Falls H.S.) (two innings),
Ryan Rukavina (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld H.S.) (one inning) and Barr (one inning) also pitched for the Yellowjackets, with Barr being tagged with the loss.
UP NEXT
The Yellowjackets will play two tomorrow, as they take on Oberlin (Ohio) College in a doubleheader. The first pitch of the day for the Yellowjackets is set for 3:00 p.m. MT.
