Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 DAVENPORT, Fla. (blugolds.com) — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire baseball team bounced back with a doubleheader sweep of SUNY Poly on Thursday at the RussMatt Invitational. The Blugolds rode strong pitching to defeat the Wildcats 11-0 and 6-5.
Nicholas Meuser (Fr. - Burnsville, Minn.) tossed a complete game shutout for the Blugolds in Game 1. It earned the right-hander his first career victory. He worked seven innings and held the Wildcats to three hits while striking out seven with one walk.
The offense took care of the rest in a dominant display.
Walter Johnson (Jr. - Minnetonka, Minn.) homered for the third straight game and
Jason Lehman (Fr. - Green Bay, Wis./West De Pere) added a double and a triple as the Blugolds pounded out 10 hits. Five of those 10 hits went for extra bases.
UW-Eau Claire scored 10 of its 11 runs in the first three innings of Game 1. Johnson started the scoring with a two-run home run in the first, and Lehman followed with a two-RBI triple in the second. Lehman,
Connor Weik (So. - Wauconda, Ill./Mundelein),
Ethan Plantz (Sr. - Elgin, Ill./Elgin Academy) and
Austin Buck (So. - Afton, Minn./Stillwater) all had RBIs in the third inning.
Meuser turned in his most effective outing of the season. He kept SUNY Poly off balance all morning and posted a new career high with seven strikeouts. Lehman and
Kyle Babin (So. - Whittier, Calif./St. John Bosco) had two hits apiece to lead the offense.
In Game 2, the Blugolds built a large lead early on and held on down the stretch to sweep the doubleheader. They raced out to a 5-0 lead after three innings. They got RBIs from Johnson, Babin and
Jacob Lacy (Sr. - Shawano, Wis.) in the first inning, an RBI single by Lehman in the second and another RBI from Lacy in the third. The Wildcats cut the lead to two by scoring three times in the fourth.
UW-Eau Claire made it 6-3 when
Drew Salyers (Jr. - Centennial, Colo./Arapahoe) drove in a run in the fourth inning, but SUNY Poly made a game of it in the seventh. The Wildcats plated two runs in the final frame to make it 6-5, but
Draza Dupor (Fr. - Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) stranded the tying run on third base to end the game and earn a save.
Lehman and Lacy had two hits to pace the Blugolds in the second game.
Charley Griffin (Sr. - River Falls, Wis.) started on the mound and worked four innings, allowing three runs while striking out six. Dupor pitched three frames and struck out two.
The Blugolds close out their time at the RussMatt Invitational with a doubleheader against Keuka on Friday, March 22. The first game begins at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
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