AUBURNDALE, Fla. (blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire baseball team opened its stint at the RussMatt Invitational with a pair of losses to Bard College on Saturday at Lake Myrtle Park. The Blugolds fell 10-7 and 6-4 (8 innings) in their first two games of their spring trip to Florida.
UW-Eau Claire (0-4) got solid starts from its starting pitchers in each game, but couldn't cash them in to get in the win column. Some late scores from the Raptors in both contests helped them sweep the doubleheader.
Brennan Cohen (Jr. - Vestavia Hills, Ala.) and
Travis Thompson (So. - Laurel, Md./Reservoir) both turned in impactful outings on the mound. Cohen pitched five innings and struck out six in the first game, and Thompson worked six innings of two-run baseball with seven strikeouts in Game 2.
The Blugolds let a lead get away late in Game 1. UW-Eau Claire led 5-4 entering the sixth inning of the seven-inning contest, but Bard plated six runs in the top of the sixth to get ahead. The Blugolds couldn't recover despite chipping away at the damage in the final frame.
Dustan Green (Jr. - Prior Lake, Minn.) hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first for UW-Eau Claire after Bard had scored twice in the top of the frame. The Raptors tacked on another run in the top of the third, but the Blugolds responded with three runs in the bottom half to take a 4-3 lead. Green added another run-scoring single before
Connor Weik (So. - Wauconda, Ill./Mundelein) hit a two-RBI single to put the Blugolds ahead. A solo home run by
Walter Johnson (Jr. - Minnetonka, Minn.) in the bottom of the fourth helped preserve the one-run lead, but it wouldn't last. The Raptors scored six times on four hits in the sixth.
Drew Salyers (Jr. - Centennial, Colo./Arapahoe) hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh and Weik added another RBI single, but that was as far as UW-Eau Claire's rally got in a 10-7 defeat.
Jameson Bender (Jr. - Elroy, Wis./Royall) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.
Game 2 went to extra innings, where Bard scored twice in the top of the eighth and held UW-Eau Claire scoreless in the bottom half to finish off the sweep. The Blugolds trailed 2-0 until the bottom of the sixth, when they scored three runs on errors to surge ahead entering the final frame. They couldn't hold the lead though, as Bard plated two runs to get ahead 4-3. UW-Eau Claire responded to force extra innings though, with another error allowing the tying run to cross the plate.
Bard scored twice on three hits in the top of the eighth to regain the lead, and they never let it go.
Matt Melendez (Jr. - River Grove, Ill./Notre Dame Prep) led UW-Eau Claire with two hits in Game 2.
The Blugolds will continue at the RussMatt Invitational with a doubleheader against Clarkson on Sunday, March 17. Each game will be a seven-inning contest, with the first scheduled to begin at 9:15 a.m. Eastern.
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