DAVENPORT, Fla. — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (5-2) secured a decisive 10–2 victory over the University of Maine-Farmington (1-7) on Wednesday. The Blugolds capitalized on a six-run eighth inning to seal the win.
UW-Eau Claire broke open a tight contest in the eighth inning, capitalizing on free bases and timely hitting to secure a commanding lead.
Will Johnson initiated the rally with a single and a stolen base.
Kellen Smith and
Diego Caicedo each drew walks to load the bases, setting the stage for
Carter Vieth, who was hit by a pitch to bring in a run.
Austin Buck followed with another hit-by-pitch, adding another tally.
Logan Hesselman delivered a bases-clearing single to right, driving in three runs, and
Cole Clausen capped the inning with an RBI single, pushing the lead to 10–2.
Earlier, UW-Eau Claire had maintained pressure through strategic base running and taking advantage of errors. In the second inning, Clausen and Johnson executed a double steal, leading to UWEC's first run when
Jacob Welter reached on an error. In the seventh inning, Smith walked and stole second, setting up runs on a sacrifice fly by Buck and a single by John Digregorio. The home team's defense also played a key role, turning a double play in the ninth to quash Maine-Farmington's final hopes of a comeback.
The Beavers kept the game close through five innings, tying the score at 2–2. However, it couldn't regain momentum after UW-Eau Claire's pivotal seventh and eighth innings.
Tyler Webb pitched for 5 innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 runs while striking out 4 batters. He issued 4 walks and threw 100 pitches with 59 of them being strikes, maintaining a WHIP of 1.60. Sebastian De la Toba contributed 4 innings of relief, surrendering only 2 hits and no runs, while striking out 3 batters. He achieved a WHIP of 0.50 and earned the win, improving his record to 1-0.
Hesselman recorded three RBIs and added two hits in his performance. Buck contributed two runs and two RBIs, despite not recording a hit. Clausen scored a run, stole two bases, and drove in two runs.
The Blugolds will face off with Bowdin College tomorrow, March 19th at 10:00 AM ET.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at
Blugolds.com or on our app,
Blugold Sports, and on social media on
Twitter,
Instagram, and
Facebook.
