SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Yellowjacket baseball team has been waiting a long time for this. Mother Nature, and her cousin Old Man Winter, have wreaked havoc on the spring sports schedule, and consequently, the Yellowjackets were forced to postpone games, again and again and again.
 
The home portion of the schedule was supposed to commence Mar. 24. Instead, the wet spring pushed opening day back 16 days, and on a sunny Saturday afternoon the Yellowjackets were finally able to wear the home whites on their home field.
 
And for them, the best things came to the team that waited.
 
Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) hurled a gem in the opener, and Bryce Flanagan (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd Senior) went deep in walk-off fashion in the nightcap as the Yellowjackets swept a twin bill against Bethany Lutheran, taking the first game 7-0 and the second 4-2 Saturday at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.

With the sweep, the Yellowjackets improved to 7-13 overall and 3-2 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.
 
Game 1
Rodriguez struck out the side in the top of the first inning, and that was a harbinger of things to come on this day. Rodriguez was dominant from start to finish, going the distance for his second win of the season, shutting out the Vikings on just three hits.
 
The Yellowjackets got all the offense they would need in the bottom of the first, as they plated five runs to take a commanding lead early.
 
Nick Fredrikson (Minneapolis, Minn./St. Anthony Village) started the inning with a single, and an error and sacrifice followed to put two runners in scoring position. Two hitters later Flanagan walked and Fredrikson scored the game's first run on a wild pitch. Christian Garcia (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) followed with a walk, brining reigning UMAC Player of the Week Jordan Trimble (Victorville, Calif./Grandview (Colo.)) to the plate with the bases full. He knocked a single to right, scoring two to make it 3-0. Garcia came around to score on a Sam McNosky (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle) single, and Trimble scampered home on an errant pick-off throw.
 
In the bottom of the third a Garcia double to left plated Flanagan and a sacrifice fly brought home Garcia, stretching the Yellowjacket lead to 7-0.

From there it was all Rodriguez, who struck out a season-high 11 on the way to his fourth complete game of the season. He improved to 2-3 on the season and now leads the UMAC in strikeouts with 44.
 
At the plate, Fredrikson led the way, going 3-for-4 with a run scored.
 
Game 2
The Yellowjackets again opened the scoring in the bottom half of the first inning. Fredrikson once again got things started, singling up the middle and coming around to score on a Ryan Castaneda (San Pedro, Calif./Junipero Serra) groundout to make it 1-0.
 
The pitcher's duel between Adam Fjerstad of Bethany Lutheran and Matt Tappe (St. Anthony, Minn./St. Anthony Village) of the Yellowjackets stayed at 1-0 until the seventh when the Vikings tied it in the top of the frame. It didn't stay that way long, however, as Garcia broke the tie in the bottom of the frame, launching a long home run over the fence in right center field to put the Yellowjackets back in front, 2-1. It was the first round tripper of the year for Garcia.
 
In the eighth the Vikings again drew even, manufacturing a run that came home on a ground out to even the score at 2-2.
 
Bethany Lutheran made a pitching change in the bottom of the ninth, and the Yellowjackets took advantage of the new arm. Castaneda drew a one-out walk. Garcia followed with a long at bat that resulted in a strikeout, bringing Flanagan to the plate. Flanagan watched the first three pitches go by out of the strike zone before the Bethany Lutheran pitcher battled back to fill the count. Flanagan fouled off a pair of pitches before getting one to his liking and lifting it down the line and over the scoreboard in left field, giving the Yellowjackets a 4-2 walk-off victory and a sweep of the doubleheader.
 
Tappe earned the victory for the Yellowjackets, improving to 4-2 on the year. He went the distance, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out eight without issuing a walk.
 
Fredrikson again led the way at the plate for the Yellowjackets, going 3-for-4 with a run scored. Flanagan also had a pair of hits and two very important RBI, as the Yellowjackets had eight hits in the game.
 
The Yellowjackets the Vikings will close out their three-game weekend series Sunday. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.