Eau Claire soars past Marquette

April 7, 2005
Filed under Sports

Chris Kemp

If last weekend was any indication, sometimes, if you can get the job done early, you might as well do it.

The UW-Eau Claire men’s club baseball team reeled in their third and fourth victories of the season Saturday against Marquette University 18-1 and 16-2, only playing five innings each contest.

“We came out right away swinging the bats well,” said senior starting pitcher Jordan Krause, who earned his second victory of the year in the night cap of the double header. Krause allowed no runs and just one hit in three innings.

“With the run support we’ve been getting, it takes a lot of pressure off our pitching staff,” he said.

Eau Claire took control early in the second game, scoring four runs in the first inning and backing it up with a 10-run second inning. They amassed 16 runs on 20 hits as they left the Marquette pitchers in disarray.

“Marquette is a good team,” said senior coach and second baseman Kyle Buchmann. “Every time we hit the ball it was line shot and there’s nothing they could do about that.”

The first game of the double-header had the same outcome, the only difference being Eau Claire racked up 18 runs instead of 16.

Eau Claire put the game away early, but this time, they pushed across eight runs in the first inning to effectively end it.

Senior All-American pitcher Greg Aune worked the mound in the first game for Eau Claire and, much like Krause, gave the Golden Eagles nothing to offer, shutting them out in four innings.

Eau Claire also got the job done at the plate, as all but one starter had two hits. Eau Claire racked up 18 runs on 21 hits in the first game, only allowing one mercy run in the fifth inning to win the game by 17.

The pair of victories moves Eau Claire’s record to 4-1 overall, and leaves them with an unblemished 2-0 conference record.

“So far I would say the season has gone well,” Buchmann said. “We’re fulfilling the expectations of being champions of the Western Lakes Conference, but everyday brings its own challenges so we’re taking it one game at a time.”

The club’s biggest challenge so far this year comes this weekend when they host conference rival UW-Madison on Sunday at Carson Park in the club’s first home event of the season.

“UW-Madison is a big rival of ours, so our games Sunday are going be to very big for us,” Krause said. “We’re really anxious to play at home at one of the best facilities in the conference (Carson Park) and put on a good show for our fans.”

Before Eau Claire snatched up the conference championship last year, Madison had been the perennial favorite to receive the automatic bid to the National Club Baseball Association regionals.

With a solid crew returning from the team that finished fifth at the national tournament last year, the club looks like its in the driver’s seat for a second consecutive bid to the regional tournament, but in order to do so must beat the Badgers this weekend.

“Madison is a long-time rival, we always have really good games,” Buchmann said. “It’ll be a great chance for baseball fans to come out and watch some quality baseball in a great atmosphere.”

The doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday at Carson Park.

“Being labeled a club team kind of gives us a bad connotation,” Krause said. “This is the best team I’ve ever played on in high school or college, so I encourage everyone to come out and enjoy the games. They won’t be disappointed.”