SUPERIOR, Wis.: The recent trend for the Yellowjacket baseball team has been splitting doubleheaders. Typically, the Yellowjackets win the first game and drop the second, something that has happened five times this season, including three times in conference play. With the sun beginning to set on the 2019 baseball season and the Yellowjackets looking to propel themselves into playoff position, sweeps are critical.

Tuesday morning and afternoon the Yellowjackets (11-15, 5-7 UMAC) bucked the trend and picked up a pair of key UMAC victories, riding strong pitching and some big innings to 14-6 and 17-2 wins over Northland College at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.

Game 1
Ace lefty Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) came out strong in the opener for the Yellowjackets, cruising through the early innings and allowing his team to get rolling at the plate. Sort of. The Yellowjackets had trouble getting hits to drop early, but were able to take advantage of Northland's errors on defense and wildeness on the mound to build an early cushion.

After plating a pair of runs in the first the Yellowjackets blew the game open in the bottom of the second. Brandon Rolf (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) pushed the Yellowjacket lead to three when he stole both second and third before coming home on an error by the catcher. Alex Osness (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) later doubled to right center, the first hit of the game for the Yellowjackets, to drive in another run. Osness would later score on a wild pitch and Cory Albertson (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) would come home on a bases loaded walk, and the Yellowjackets led 6-0 after two, despite having just one hit.

The 'Jackets were set down in order in the third but exploded in the fourth, sending ten men to the plate and scoring five runs to extend the lead. Osness started the rally with a walk and then stole second, before gaining third on a wild pitch and coming home when Northland was forced to retire a strikeout victim with a throw to first. Later in the inning Bryce Flanagan (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) drove in two with a double to left, and he would score the run to put the 'Jackets up 11-0 on a Jordan Berrios (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) single.

Rodriguez got into a little bit of trouble in the fifth, allowing four hits as well as a pair of fielder's choices, but he was able to keep the damage to a minimum with all the hits being singles. In total Northland scored three times to make it 11-3. Northland would add two more in the sixth to trim the Yellowjacket lead some more, but the 'Jackets got two runs back in their half of the seventh to make it 13-5. Each team would get a run in the eighth before David Dibble (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper), who threw four solid innnings of relief, set the Lumberjacks down in order to give the 'Jackets a 14-6 win.

In an odd stat line, the Yellowjackets scored 14 times on just 10 hits. Berrios and Albertson led the way with two hits each. Both also scored a pair of runs.

Rodriguez went five innings and earned the win to improve to 3-0 on the year. He allowed three runs on eight hits while walking three and striking out five. Dibble picked up his first save of the year, allowing three runs on four hits. He walked two and strick out one.

Game 2
As good as Rodriguez was in the opener, Auggie Anderson (Mendota Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley) was even better in game two. The senior righthander allowed just one run on three hits in five innings and struck out four, keeping Northland at bay while his team once again built an insurmountable lead.

Each team scored a run in the first, but in the second the Yellowjackets blew it open. And unlike the first game, the Yellowjackets strung some hits together this time to build the lead.

The first three hitters reached in the second and Flanagan walked to bring in the inning's first run. Two more runs scored on a Nick Fredrikson (Minneapolis, Minn./St. Anthony Village) single to make it 4-1. An Albertson single scored another run and Braeden Barr (San Diego, Calif./Grossmont) reached on an error to bring in another, and the 'Jackets batted around to go up 6-1 after two. The Yellowjackets would bat around again in the third, this time scored nine runs to move ahead 15-1. Osness had the biggest hit of the inning, clearing the bases with a triple to right before scoring on a throwing error on the play. Later in the inning Rolf had a two-run single and Flanagan a two-run double.

Osness would bring home another run in the bottom of the fifth, scoring Flanagan on a ground-rule double to left. Then in the bottom of the sixth Cameron Lee (Durban, South Africa/Kearsney College) singled up the middle, scoring Ryan Castaneda (San Pedro, Calif./Junipero Serra) who reached on a walk to give the Yellowjackets their 17th and final run. Northland would push one more run across in the seventh to make the final score 17-2.

Albertson went 3-for-4 to pace the Yellowjackets' 14-hit attack. Osness, Rolf, Flanagan, and Fredrikson also had multi-hit games for the Yellowjackets.

Anderson got the win to improve to 2-4 on the year. He was relieved after five innings by Harrison Leet (Palmer, Alaska/Portage), and the lanky lefty pitched the final two innings, allowing a run on two hits.

The Yellowjackets are back home Thursday when they'll host Bethel in a non-conference doubleheader at Ted Whereatt Field.