DAVENPORT, Fla. (blugolds.com) — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire baseball team dropped a doubleheader to Clarkson 10-4 and 9-8 on Sunday at the RussMatt Invitational. The Blugolds manufactured plenty of offense, but it wasn't quite enough to take down the Knights.
A five-run third inning made the difference for Clarkson in Game 1. The outburst broke a 4-4 tie and UW-Eau Claire couldn't recover. Game 2 went to extra innings, where Clarkson scored once in the top of the ninth before closing it out in the bottom half to earn the sweep.
The Blugolds got RBI doubles from
Drew Salyers (Jr. - Centennial, Colo./Arapahoe) and
Walter Johnson (Jr. - Minnetonka, Minn.) in the first game. They helped the Blugolds force a 4-4 tie through two innings, but Clarkson broke things open on three hits and an error in the third. The Knights held the Blugolds scoreless the rest of the way. Johnson finished 3 for 4 for UW-Eau Claire and Salyers drove in two runs.
Ben Teigland (Jr. - Hastings, Minn.) threw three innings of one-run ball in relief on the mound.
UW-Eau Claire clawed back from a five-run deficit in Game 2. Clarkson scored five times in the top of the second inning, but the Blugolds battled back with eight runs between the second and fifth innings.
Connor Weik (So. - Wauconda, Ill./Mundelein),
Dustan Green (Jr. - Prior Lake, Minn.) and
Ryan Casimier (So. - Columbia, Tenn./Battle Ground Academy) all had two RBIs in that span. UW-Eau Claire led 8-6 entering the final inning, but Clarkson scored twice in the top of the seventh to force extras. They scored the winning run on a single in the top of the ninth.
Johnson, Green, Weik and Casimier all had two hits for the Blugolds in Game 2.
The Blugolds will return to action on Monday, March 18. They'll play a single nine-inning game against Elmhurst at 9 a.m. Eastern.
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