AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- The UW-Superior baseball team rallied for seven runs in the top of the second inning in the final game of a doubleheader against Springfield and held on for a 9-3 win on Monday, giving first-year head coach TJ Oakes his first victory as a collegiate skipper.
 
The Yellowjackets opened the their account in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational with a 4-0 loss to the Pride (3-5), despite a pitching gem from senior lefty Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska), who kept Springfield off the scoreboard through seven innings.
 
UWS (1-5), though, handed Oakes his first win with a nine-run, nine-hit offensive showing, backed by four innings of shutout relief from righty Matt Tappe (St. Anthony, Minn./St. Anthony Village), who evened his record to 1-1. Tappe was masterful, keeping Springfield off balance with 10 strikeouts after Bryce Flanagan (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd Senior) threw the first three frames.
 
Tappe yielded just four hits and two walks in 83 pitches and the 'Jackets offense, which had manufactured 10 runs in five games, broke out.
 
UWS sent 11 batters to the plate in the second, chasing Springfield starter Ponticello (0-1) after recording only four outs. 
 
Superior loaded the bases with one out before Iduan Nater (Arecibo, Puerto Rico/Vocacional Antonio Lucchetti) and Mike Rodriguez (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) were hit by a pitch and walked, respectively, for a 2-0 lead. Next up, Ben Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) hit into a fielder's choice, scoring Josh Hukriede (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd Senior) to make it 3-0. Christian Garcia (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) then scorched one that got through Cole Crynock at base to allow two more to score.
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Leading, 6-0, after Rhodes scored on a wild pitch, freshman Jordan Trimble (Victorville, Calif./Grandview (Colo.)) singled to center, plating Garcia with two out for the 7-0 lead.
 
Springfield cut it to a four-run game with two in the bottom of the third, but an RBI single in the sixth by Sam McNosky (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle) made it 8-3. Gunner Johnson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) gave his team a six-run cushion later in the inning, stealing third and coming home when the catcher's throw ended up in left field.
 
McNosky was 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored to lead the Yellowjackets.
 
Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) limited Springfield to five hits and a walk with five strikeouts, giving his team chances to take control of the first game, but Superior stranded 11 throughout the day, hitting just 2-for-16 with runners on base.
 
Springfield got all four runs in the eighth off of freshman Jack Rheineck (St. Louis Park, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's School) and senior Dante Bender (Gurney, Wis./Hurley). Rheineck induced a groundball out before surrendering an RBI double to Noah Bleakley and single to Crynock. Following a Bender throwing error that made it 2-0, Ryan Sorgi singled to shortstop to extend the lead. Bender then hit Michael Barrett with the bases loaded for the final margin.
 
The 'Jackets loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, but Bleakley (1-0) struck out the side to end the game. 
 
UWS is back in action with in a single, nine-inning game against Greenville Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. CT.