SUPERIOR, Wis. – There's no place like home, and for the Yellowjacket baseball team, Saturday was its first chance to play there this season.
 
Sure, there have been "home" games, played at locales such as Auburndale, Fla., Mauston, Wis. and St. Paul, Minn. Saturday, however, the Yellowjackets finally got the chance to take to the field in the 54880 ZIP code.

There's no place like home – it's not just a saying. Saturday the Yellowjackets played like a team truly excited to be on their home turf.
 
With a cloud-filled sky and temperatures hovering in the mid-to-high 30s, the Yellowjackets were once again rock-solid in all phases of the game, shutting out Martin Luther 10-0 in seven innings at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
 
Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) twirled another gem for the Yellowjackets (13-11, 9-3 UMAC), going the distance to improve to 5-1 on the year. At one point, Rodriguez recorded six consecutive strikeouts and finishing the game with 11 Ks, establishing a new season high.
 
The Yellowjackets opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Payton Steiner (Baraboo, Wis./Baraboo) scored on a sacrifice fly. In the second, Max Howell (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo) scored on a Brian O'Dwyer (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove Senior) single to left. O'Dwyer then scored on a double by Jonny Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), putting the Yellowjackets up 3-0 after two.
 
In the bottom of the third the Yellowjackets plated two more runs, with Steiner scoring first on a sacrifice fly by Christian Garcia (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs). Ben Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) then scored on an Isaac Fugere (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) single, increasing the lead to 5-0.
 
After going scoreless in the fourth the Yellowjackets added two runs in the bottom of the fifth, with both of them coming in on a single through the right side by Nick Fredrikson (Minneapolis, Minn./St. Anthony Village).

The Yellowjackets added the final runs of the game in the bottom of the seventh. Steiner scored his third run of the game on a ground out. With the bases empty and one out, Garcia singled through the right side and Fugere followed with a ground-rule double to right center. Garcia came in to score on a Fredrikson flyout. A wild pitch put Fugere just 90 feet away, and a second wild pitch brought him home with the 10th run of the game, invoking the run rule.
 
Steiner and Fugere each had two hits to lead the Yellowjackets, who outhit Martin Luther 9-2. Garcia and Ben Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) each scored twice and Fredrikson drove in three runs.
 
The Yellowjackets and Knights will play two games Sunday to close out their weekend series. The first pitch of the day is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.