SUPERIOR, Wis. – It's been an interesting stretch of late for the Yellowjacket baseball team. Last weekend, the Yellowjackets dropped a doubleheader to Minnesota Morris on the road, allowing 21 runs in the two, one-run losses.
 
Since then, though, it's been smooth sailing, as the Yellowjackets have taken advantage of stellar pitching and nearly flawless team defense.
 
The Yellowjackets snapped that short skid, and prevented Morris from sweeping the season series with a 3-0 win last Saturday. Then yesterday, the Yellowjackets defeated Martin Luther in seven innings without surrendering a run, 10-0.
 
Sunday, the Yellowjackets followed the same script and added a heavy dose of offense to run their win streak to four. In the opening game Sunday, the Yellowjackets scored in all but two innings on the way to a 21-0 win, then closed the day out with another 10-0 win over the Knights.
 
Going back more than three decades, this current stretch marks the first time the Yellowjackets (15-11, 11-3 UMAC) have won four straight games by way of a shutout.
 
Game One
The opening game Sunday was over well before it was over, as the Yellowjackets jumped on Martin Luther starter Zachary Klement for eight runs in the bottom of the first inning. Already up 3-0 with one out, Isaac Fugere (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) went deep, hitting a solo home run over the fence in right center to make it 4-0.
 
Three hitters later the Yellowjackets went deep again, this time it was Brian O'Dwyer (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove Senior) going the opposite way to clear the fence in right for a two-run home run to make it 6-0. Later in the inning Payton Steiner (Baraboo, Wis./Baraboo) and Ben Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) had back-to-back run-scoring hits to give the Yellowjackets the 8-0 lead.
 
Martin Luther swapped pitchers for the bottom of the second, but the Yellowjacket offense went right back to work. O'Dwyer brought home another run with a double to right, and then Jonny Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) plated two more with a single to right, making it an 11-0 game. Payton Steiner (Baraboo, Wis./Baraboo) and Tanner Voight (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) also had run-scoring hits in the inning, stretching the Yellowjacket lead to 13-0.
 
Yellowjacket head coach TJ Oakes began to sub out his starters, but the players coming in kept the offense coming.

in the bottom of the fourth Voight drove in his second run of the game with a single through the right side. Later in the fourth Jordan Trimble (Victorville, Calif./Grandview (Colo.)) brought in a run on a fielder's choice to make the lead 15-0.
 
Trey Sybrant (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville Senior) started the scoring in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run double to left center. Later in the inning Toby Boevers (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park) singled to right to bring home another run before Trimble and Jonny Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) had back-to-back run-scoring hits, making the final score 21-0.
 
The Yellowjacket attack pounded out 22 hits, led by Steiner, Trimble and Jonny Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) who had three hits each. In total, 11 different Yellowjackets had hits in this one. Seven different Yellowjackets drove in at least two runs, led by Trimble who had four RBI.
 
Matt Tappe (St. Anthony, Minn./St. Anthony Village) got the start and picked up the win, improving his record to 5-2 on the year. He pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out seven. Jack Barnett (Montgomery, Minn./Jordan), making his first appearance of the season, pitched 1.2 scoreless, hitless innings and struck out two. Kaleb Beane (Tallahassee, Fla./Leon), also making his first appearance of the year, got the game's final out.

Game Two
The Yellowjackets picked up in the second game where they left off in the first, although the runs didn't come in as big of bunches as they did earlier in the day.
 
Noah Dagostino (Andover, Minn./Andover) scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first, going from second to third on a foul out and then scoring on an errant throw to make it 1-0.

The Yellowjackets made it 2-0 in the bottom of the third when Steiner, who led off the inning with a single, scored on a double by Fugere. The 'Jackets tacked on another single run in the bottom of the fourth on a wild pitch, and then blew the game open in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Fugere collected his second double of the game with one out, scoring ben Rhodes with the fourth Yellowjacket run. Fugere then scored on an error, and Nick Fredrikson (Minneapolis, Minn./St. Anthony Village) came across to make it 6-0 on a ground out.
 
In the bottom of the sixth the Yellowjackets scored the final four runs of the game.
 
Steiner go the scoring started, doubling to left center to score Jonny Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior). Christian Garcia (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) then doubled to right, bringing home Steiner with the eighth run. Ben Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) scored on a ground out to make it 9-0, and Garcia followed on a single by Fredrikson, making the final score 10-0.
 
The Yellowjackets outhit the Knights 11-4 in the game, led by Fugere who went 3-for-4 and drove in three. Fredrikson and Steiner also had two hits in the game.

Ben Welle (Melrose, Minn./Melrose Area) started the game on the mound and pitched six scoreless innings, allowing four hits. He walked one and struck out two on his way to his second win of the year. Aiden Pfeifer (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) pitched the seventh for the Yellowjackets.
 
The Yellowjackets are back home Tuesday when they host Northland College. The first pitch is set for noon at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.