MAUSTON, Wis. – Winter has a death grip on the Upper Midwest, and as a result the Yellowjacket baseball team resembles somewhat of a band on the road on tour.
 
The Yellowjacket Spring Tour of 2023 saw the Superior nine make its second stop of the week in Mauston, where four fields were hosting college baseball teams from all over Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota. Half of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) was represented at the Woodside Sports Complex Sunday, with Northland and North Central playing on one field, while an adjacent diamond had the Yellowjackets taking on Northwestern.
 
The 'Jackets and Eagles were scheduled to play twice in Superior Friday, followed by a single game in Superior Saturday. Winter weather forced the games to be moved, and originally the postponement moved the games to Northwestern's home field. Mother Nature intervened, and the teams were forced to head to southern Wisconsin for Sunday's twinbill.
 
Last Monday, the Yellowjackets swept Northland at Woodside, and today, the 'Jackets got two more victories, in very similar fashion.
 
Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) again twirled a gem for the Yellowjackets in the opener, as they defeated Northwestern 6-1. In the second game the offense got rolling, and the Yellowjackets completed the sweep with a 13-4 rout.
 
With the victories, the Yellojackets (8-8, 4-0 UMAC) have run their winning streak to four games.
 
Game One
Rodriguez had a pair of difficult innings in the first game, getting into a little bit of trouble in each of the third and fourth innings. Aside from that, however, the senior lefthander was in full control of things, earning his third win of the year. He allowed one run on eight hits in eight innings, along the way striking out 10.
 
The Yellowjackets got all the offense they would need in the bottom of the first inning. Christian Garcia (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs), who is off to a blazing start this season, drove in the game's first run with a double to right-center field. He would then come around to score the eventual game-winning run when Payton Steiner (Baraboo, Wis./Baraboo), playing just down the expressway from his hometown, singled to left, making it 2-0 Yellowjackets after one inning.
 
Northwestern would get one run back in the top of the second, but the Yellowjackets immediately answered, scoring a run when Nick Fredrikson (Minneapolis, Minn./St. Anthony Village) reached on an error, plating Brian O'Dwyer (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove Senior) in the bottom of the inning.
 
The Yellowjackets added some insurance in the bottom of the fifth. Garcia singled through the right side, scoring Fredrikson and Noah Dagostino (Andover, Minn./Andover) to stretch the lead. They closed out the scoring later in the inning, when Garcia scored on a Jack Rheineck (St. Louis Park, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's School) sacrifice fly, making it 6-1.
 
Garcia went 3-for-4, scored twice and drove in three to pace the offense. Steiner and Fredrikson chipped in two hits each.
 
Aiden Pfeifer (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) came on to pitch the ninth inning for the Yellowjackets.
 
Game Two
Things were tight early in the second game before the Yellowjackets got to the Eagles in the middle innings, blowing the game open.
 
Northwestern opened the scoring in the top of the first, plating a single run. It could have been worse early, but Yellowjacket starter Matt Tappe (St. Anthony, Minn./St. Anthony Village) worked out of a bases-loaded jam.
 
In the bottom of the inning the Yellowjackets answered, taking a lead they would never give up.
 
With one out and Fredrikson on second, Garcia grove a single up the middle, bringing home Fredrikson and tying the game. Two batters later, Garcia came home to make it 2-1 on Steiner's infield single.
 
It stayed that way until the fifth, when Northwestern pulled even. But the Yellowjackets got that run right back again, when Fredrikson reached with a one-out double. Two batters later Garcia brought him home, hammering a ground-rule double to left-center, scoring Fredrikson and putting the 'Jackets back in front.
 
In the sixth, Isaac Fugere (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) got the scoring started, reaching on an error and coming home on a Steiner's double to left center. Steiner would later come home on a wild pitch to make it 5-2. Jordan Trimble (Victorville, Calif./Grandview (Colo.)) brought home another run with a double down the left field line, and then scored to make it 7-2 on Fredrikson's base hit to right.
 
The bottom of the seventh saw Northwestern go to the bullpen, and the Yellowjackets immediately went back to work. With the bases loaded, O'Dwyer singled up the middle to bring home two runs, and Fredrikson doubled to left, scoring two more, making it 11-2.
 
Northwestern scored twice in the top of the eighth, but the Yellowjackets answered again, scoring three times, getting an RBI double from Cole Ondrus (Esko, Minn./Esko) and an RBI single from Ben Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), making the final 13-4.
 
Fredrikson had a big game at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in three. Garcia had another multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 and driving in two more. Seven different Yellowjacketws had at least two hits in the game.
 
Mauston has definitely agreed with Steiner, who was one of the Yellowjackets with a multi-hit game. In six games at Woodside has hit .565 (13-for-23) with seven runs scored and 10 runs batted in.

Tappe went six innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on 11 hits while striking out five. He improves to 2-0 on the year. Declan Higgins (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle) pitched the final three innings, allowing two runs on two hits with a walk and a strikeout, to earn his first save of the season.
 
The Yellowjackets and Eagles are scheduled to play the third game of their series Monday in St. Paul, Minn. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Reynolds Field on Northwestern's campus.