DAVENPORT, Fla. (blugolds.com) — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire baseball team wrapped up its time at the 2024 RussMatt Invitational with a doubleheader sweep against Keuka College on Friday at Northeast Regional Park. The Blugolds swept the Wolves 7-6 and 5-4 to run their win streak to four games as they head back to Wisconsin.
UW-Eau Claire (5-7) held off a late surge from Keuka in Game 1 and mounted a late rally of its own to win Game 2.
The Blugolds held on for the win in Game 1 after a three-run homer by Keuka in the bottom of the seventh cut the lead to 7-6. It sealed the first victory of the season for
Brennan Cohen (Jr. - Vestavia Hills, Ala.), who started on the mound and worked six effective innings. The right-hander allowed three runs — all on one home run — and struck out three while walking one.
Kyle Babin (So. - Whittier, Calif./St. John Bosco) and
Jacob Lacy (Sr. - Shawano, Wis.) drove in two runs apiece to pace the lineup.
Dustan Green (Jr. - Prior Lake, Minn.) added an RBI of his own, and
Walter Johnson (Jr. - Minnetonka, Minn.) had two hits. The Blugolds did most of their scoring early, plating a run on an error in the second, one on an RBI single from Babin in the third and another on a sacrifice fly by Lacy. Babin and Lacy both drew bases-loaded walks in the fourth to put UW-Eau Claire up 6-0.
Keuka hit a three-run homer in the sixth to cut the deficit in half, but Green drove in a run on a fielder's choice in the top of the seventh for what proved to be the winning run. Keuka had another three-run homer in the seventh, but it wasn't enough.
The Blugolds overturned a deficit in Game 2. Keuka scored three times in the first inning, but reliever
James Schutte (Jr. - New Richmond, Wis.) calmed the storm with 5.1 scoreless innings from there to keep UW-Eau Claire's hopes alive. The Blugolds scored on an RBI from
Eli Keirstead (Fr. - Savage, Minn./Burnsvile) in the second inning to make it a 3-1 game, but couldn't plate any more runs until late.
Johnson made it 3-2 with an RBI single in the fifth inning before the Blugolds surged into the lead in the sixth. Lacy led off the bottom of the sixth with a double, and
Austin Buck (So. - Afton, Minn./Stillwater) immediately drove him in with an RBI triple to right-center. Keirstead drove in the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice later in the frame, and
Jason Lehman (Fr. - Green Bay, Wis./West De Pere) added an RBI single to make it 5-3. Keuka got a run back in the top of the seventh, but
Sebastian De La Toba (So. - Chula Vista, Calif./Olympian) slammed the door to pick up his first career save.
Schutte got his first career victory as a result. He limited the Wolves to two hits and no runs while striking out four in his 5.1 innings. Green, Lacy, Buck and
Diego Caicedo (Jr. - Pompano Beach, Fla./Northeast) all had two hits for the Blugolds.
UW-Eau Claire finished its trip to Florida with a 5-5 mark at the RussMatt Invitational. The Blugolds will now open up Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) action with a four-game series at UW-Oshkosh on March 29-30. Doubleheaders are set to begin at 12 p.m. each day.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at
Blugolds.com or on our app,
Blugold Sports.
