On April 19-20, UW-Eau Claire baseball faced No.10 ranked UW-La Crosse on the road for a four game series. While the Blugolds dropped both doubleheaders, they lost two games by just 1 run each and another by a 2 run margin.
For the opener on Friday, the Blugolds faced La Crosse’s Isaiah Katz, who was all WIAC first team in 2024 and entered Friday’s game with a 2.25 earned run average in 36 innings of work. Through the first two innings, neither team scored until fourth-year Drew Salyers got on the board for the Blugolds with a RBI double.
A passed ball and an RBI groundout brought in two more runs for the Blugolds, as they ended the top of the third inning with a 3-0 lead. The Blugolds stole a base in that inning as well, something they did three times in the game.
Head coach Patrick Reilly recognized the caliber at which Katz has pitched this year and prepared before the series to try to get on the board first.
“We did some things internally the week before we played them, to put a little bit more pressure on them instead of letting him kind of throw to us and get after us early,” Reilly said. “We got aggressive on the base paths, I think it kind of surprised them.”
The Blugolds are a team that don’t typically steal a lot of bases, as they rank second to last in the conference with 47.
In the bottom of the third inning, La Crosse scored their first run of the game. First-basemen George Seaman hit a solo homerun, his 10th of the season. In the fifth, the Blugolds responded with a two-run homerun from third-year infielder Austin Buck.
Buck hit the ball deep to right field and as La Crosse’s right fielder Andrew Rajkovich went to make a play on it and got a glove on the ball, the ball popped out of his glove as he made contact with the fence and the ball went over the fence.
Heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Blugolds led La Crosse 6-3. With 2 outs in the inning, La Crosse loaded the bases and brought in two runs off of a Nate Witte two RBI single. The next at bat, Chris VandenHeuvel, tied the game with an RBI single.
The Blugolds couldn’t score any runs to retake the lead, and in the bottom of the ninth, La Crosse walked it off with a game-winning walk to win 7-6. The Blugolds’ pitching staff walked 10 batters in the game.
For Reilly, the next step for the program is to incorporate more high leverage scenarios in practice that are similar to in game situations.
“I got to do a better job of putting guys in situations in practice where the heart rates elevated, the adrenaline is up, cause that’s definitely something that happens in game as well,” Reilly said.
For the second game of the day, second-year pitcher Evan Fischer took the mound for the Blugolds to start the game. In his previous start before Friday, Fischer allowed seven earned runs in give innings of work on April 12.
On Friday, Fischer threw four scoreless innings, striking out three batters and allowing just one walk. Fischer felt like he was in a good spot before the game, as he was able to go over a game plan for the La Crosse batters with his pitching coach Jeff Dykes.
“I feel like my preparation before the game was going really well,” Fischer said. “Mentally and physically I was really there.”
While the Blugolds fell in Friday’s second game 3-2 after leading La Crosse 3-1 through seven innings, the Blugolds received a scoreless start from Fischer who missed all of last season due to labrum surgery on his non-throwing arm.
Fischer accredits the coaching staff with bringing him up to game speed and preparing him for the season and start against La Crosse after his surgery.
“I feel like it was just good preparation from our coaching staff that helped me get to that point,” Fischer said. “Their trust in me as well to be able to go out there, perform against a high level offense.”
Having lost consecutive games by one run, the Blugolds went into Saturday looking to receive a solid start from starting pitcher second-year Nicholas Meuser. Like the first two games, the Blugolds scored first.
In the first inning, Salyers had an RBI groundout, his 16th of the season. The Blugolds took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the 7th with Meuser still in the game at pitcher. La Crosse strung four hits together en route to a three-run inning that propelled them to a 5-3 lead that they held onto for the rest of the game.
Looking to win the finale, the Blugolds for the fourth time in the series, got on the board first. A wild pitch by La Crosse got the Blugolds their first and only run of the game. La Crosse’s Owen Deprez pitched seven innings, striking out 12 batters, allowing just one hit.
Deprez received run support from his offense, who scored nine runs off of 15 hits and five doubles, from five different La Crosse hitters. With a 9-1 loss, the Blugolds remain winless in WIAC play.
The game was a tale of two tales for the Blugolds, as the two rosters are polar opposites. La Crosse has 16 seniors in the program, whereas the Blugolds have 10 seniors and 20 freshmen on the team.
While the Blugolds couldn’t come away with a win on their trip to La Crosse, they saw what it takes to be a team that competes at the top of the WIAC.
“It’s really good for our guys to see what the weightroom can do for a young man aged 19 to 22, and how much effort they need to put in if they want to be on par with guys in this league,” Reilly said. “The physicality in this league is pretty off the charts.”
Coming off three games with finishes within two runs, the Blugolds will host UW-Stevens Point for a double header Wednesday, April 23.
Benes can be reached at [email protected].
