DAVENPORT, Fla. – It may still be early in the season, but for the Yellowjacket baseball team, its in mid-season form when it comes to playing thrilling contests.
 
After a blowout win to open the season, the Yellowjackets were in the midst of a furious rally in the second game of the doubleheader against Augsburg when the game was called due to time constraints. Then, there was the tight, one-run contest yesterday in their Florida road trip opener.
 
Monday it was another nailbiter, and for the third time this season, the Yellowjackets came out on top. The Yellowjackets moved to 2-1 on their spring trip to Florida and 3-1 overall, outlasting former-WIAC foe UW-La Crosse, 8-7, at Northeast Regional Park.
 
Junior pitcher Ben Welle (Melrose, Minn./Melrose Area) was put in the tightest of spots Monday, and the newcomer came through in grand style. With the Yellowjackets up 8-4, La Crosse's Chris VandenHeuvel hit his second home run in as many innings to pull the Eagles to within a run. Welle was summoned from the bullpen and retired both of the hitters he faced, preserving the win, and in the process earning his first save as a Yellowjacket.
 
La Crosse opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, but the Yellowjackets answered in the top of second, plating three runs to move in front. With two down in the inning and a runner on first, Sam McNosky (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle) doubled, bringing home Tanner Voight (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) to even the score. Nick Fredrikson (Minneapolis, Minn./St. Anthony Village) following with a single, scoring McNosky, and the Yellowjackets were in front. After Fredrikson stole second, Noah Dagostino (Andover, Minn./Andover) brought him home to put the Yellowjackets up 3-1.
 
In the third Ben Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) walked and then advanced to third on back-to-back wild pitches. He scored on a groundout. With the bases empty and two outs, Trey Sybrant (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville Senior) singled and stole second before coming home on a Brian O'Dwyer (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove Senior) single, making it 5-1 Yellowjackets.

From there, Yellowjacket starter Matt Tappe (St. Anthony, Minn./St. Anthony Village) and La Crosse reliever Sawyer Phillips settled in and turned the game into a pitcher's duel. Phillips came on in the third and went six innings, allowing just one run on three hits. On the other side, Tappe was on his game. All game long Tappe was missing bats and struck out nine in 7.1 innings. He allowed four runs on eight hits.
 
La Crosse came to life in the bottom of the eighth, pulling to within one at 5-4. The big blow was the first home run of the game by VandenHeuvel, a two-run shot with one out.
 
In the top of the ninth, the Yellowjackets got all three of those runs back. Sybrant led off the inning with a base hit and was sacrificed to second. He came in on McNosky's second double of the game. Two hitters later, Dagostino walked, putting runners on the corners with two outs. Dagostino took off for second and the failed pickoff attempt resulted in a stolen base and McNosky coming home. Dagostino then stole third and came home on a bad throw, reinstating the four-run Yellowjacket lead.
 
In the ninth, La Crosse touched up Christian Garcia (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) for three runs, before Welle came in and slammed the door, preserving the victory for Tappe and the Yellowjackets. Tappe is now 1-0 on the year.
 
McNosky and Sybrant led the way for the Yellowjackets, with two hits and scoring two runs each. The Yellowjackets had nine hits in the game.
 
The Yellowjackets are back in action Tuesday, when they take on SUNY Cobleskill in a pair of seven-inning games. The opening pitch is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. CDT at Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale, Fla.