Due to a cancellation of Friday’s game, the UW-Eau Claire club baseball team hosted Whitewater in a tripleheader Saturday.

With local high school games occupying its usual home field, Carson Park, Eau Claire was forced to play all three games at Bollinger Field.

Without the advantage of its “home” turf, the team dropped all three games to Whitewater, despite Eau Claire scoring in double figures twice in three games.

“We just didn’t have it together from the get-go,” Eau Claire sophomore Justin Musil said. “It was different playing at Bollinger (Field) instead of at Carson (Park). It’s a whole new ball game when you’re playing on a practice field.”

The team had to use a practice field, which isÿalso the sameÿlocation where the UW-Eau Claire soccer teams practice. With potholes providing obstacles for the team, the men had to be extra cautious to prevent injuries.

Without the luck of the Hank Aaron statue outside Carson, some team members fell to superstition.

“I’ve rubbed Hank’s bat for good luck before each game,” sophomore Jordan Krause said, “and we haven’t lost a game since I began the ritual. Look what happens.”

In the first game, senior Jay Hebert went 2-for-3, junior Greg Aune went 3-for-4 and Musil went 2-for-4. Aune and Musil each had a home run and one RBI for the game.

Though the numbers looked good on paper, Whitewater’s were better, and Eau Claire lost, 11-8.

“It’s kind of hard to focus when you don’t even get to step out and feel like you’ve got home-field advantage,” junior Dan Powers said.

The second game of the series didn’t turn out much better.

In a high-scoring game, Eau Claire lost 16-12 to Whitewater. Seniors Curt Hartfiel and Alex Young went 2-for-4,ÿHebert went 3-for-5 with one RBI and seniors Tucker Emerson and ChipÿMarty each went 4-for-5.ÿ

Freshman JakeÿLundquist pitched the game, receiving the loss.

For the third game, by the coaches’ decision, many of the starters were removed, giving the younger players a chance to play.

Freshman Andy Campbell went 4-for-5, Lundquist went 3-for-5, freshmanÿAndy Minga went 2-for-3 with a home run and sophomore Kyle Buchmann went 2-for-5.

The game seemed to beÿwrapped up for Eau Claire until the bottom of the last inning when Whitewater hit a three-run homer off of Krause to win, 14-12. Krause finished the game with Emerson and a few other Eau Claire players pitching assistence during the game.

“They were picking up the pitches unbelievably well,” Krause said. “We played a good game, but they just played better. That’s all it comes down to.”