DAVENPORT, Fla. -- Freshman center fielder
Jordan Trimble (Victorville, Calif./Grandview (Colo.)) shot a one-out base hit back through the middle in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the UW-Superior baseball team to a 4-3 victory in the first game of its doubleheader with Union in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Saturday.
The Yellowjackets dropped the second game against the Dutchmen, 6-3, despite another rally in the seventh on a steamy day at Northeast Regional Park.
UWS (3-9) entered the last of the seventh inning of the opener down, 3-2.
Christian Garcia (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) led off the frame with a single through the right side of the infield before being lifted for pinch runner
Iduan Nater (Arecibo, Puerto Rico/Vocacional Antonio Lucchetti). Bryce Fournier (0-1) uncorked a wild pitch, moving Nater to second and
Bryce Flanagan (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd Senior) singled to right field, pushing Nater to third.
After a flyout, pinch runner
Max Howell (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo) stole second and
Sam McNosky (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle) walked to load the bases, setting the stage for Trimble's walk-off hit.
Left-hander
Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) (1-1) turned in his third consecutive quality start and first complete game to begin the season. Rodriguez scattered seven hits and one earned run, striking out five without issuing a walk.
Union (1-1) wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in its first game of the season as the second batter of the day, Kobe Mentzer, belted a solo shot over the fence in left for the early lead.
Superior plated single runs in the second third innings, respectively, to take a 2-1 lead when
Jonny Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) and Garcia each singled.
The Dutchmen scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fourth with the help of a dropped pop up by
Jonny Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), but Trimble gave UWS its second-consecutive victory in the seventh.
Garcia was 2-for-3 with an RBI, pacing the 'Jackets' seven-hit attack.
Three Union pitchers hit UWS hitters a total of six times in the game. UWS walked three times and stole three bases.
The Dutchmen scored three times in the second inning of the second game on RBI singles from Ryan Cowles and Mentzer before
Isaac Fugere (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) responded in the fifth with a two-run single to left center in the top of the third.
Designated hitter Jack DiNanno ripped a solo homer to left field in the bottom of the third to double the lead to 4-2. The Dutchmen tacked on runs in the fifth and sixth and
Ben Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) pushed a run across in the top of the seventh on a groundball for the final margin.
Flanagan (0-2) took the loss on the mound, pitching the first five innings and surrendering seven hits, four earned runs and two walks with one strikeout.
Ethan Coady (Toronto, Ontario/Etobicoke School of the Arts) threw the sixth inning.
Union's Chris Murdock earned the victory with six innings of three-hit baseball. He struck out seven and walked three in 104 pitches. A combination of Alex Erickson and Jason Goldblum threw the seventh inning with Goldblum retiring Garcia and Fugere to pick up the save.
UWS plays a single, nine-inning game against Knox on Sunday at 9 a.m. CT prior to heading back to Superior.
