The Yellowjacket baseball team was on the road on Wednesday, April 17, getting its game action rolling bright and early in the morning, attempting to get a doubleheader against UW-La Crosse in the books before more spring rains washed out the contests. Despite a lengthy rain delay in the first game, the teams persevered and got both games in, and that was good news for the Yellowjackets.

Timely hitting coupled with some suspect defense from the Eagles gave the Yellowjackets a pair of victories on the day. With the wins, head coach Eddy Morgan reached a personal milestone, picking up his 100th win as coach of the Yellowjackets. More importantly, the Yellowjackets moved into the fourth and final playoff spot in the WIAC, as teams in the conference fight the unseasonable spring weather and jockey for position as they enter the stretch drive of the season.

Game 1
Yellowjackets 9, La Crosse 5
Box Score

In the opener the Eagles got off to a fast start, roughing up Yellowjacket starter Graham Miller (Cumberland, Wis./Cumberland), who struggled with his control, to jump out to the early lead. They opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when, with two out, Adam Cordova doubled to left center, scoring Cole Cefalu who walked to make it 1-0.

The Yellowjackets immediately answered to take the lead in the top of the second. Tom Fairbanks (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) reached on an error and went to second on a wild pitch. Tony Remund (Andover, Minn./Coon Rapids) walked and Brady Flaherty (Balsam Lake, Wis./Unity) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Fairbanks scored to tie the game on Tyler Duex (Chippewa Falls, Wis./Chippewa Falls)'s sacrifice fly. Casey Dittel (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) followed with an RBI single and the Yellowjackets went ahead 2-1.

The lead was short-lived, however, as La Crosse put up two in the bottom of the inning. With one out, back-to-back singles put runners on the corners. Taylor Kohlwey brought one run home with a ground out, and Josh Rowles plated another run with a single and the Eagles regained the lead.

Once again, however, the Yellowjackets answered. For the second straight inning Fairbanks got things started, reaching on a single. He was followed quickly by Remund and Flaherty as the Yellowjackets again loaded the bases with one out. After a pitching change, Dittel drew a walk, driving in his second run of the game and again tying the game at 3-3.

La Crosse regained the lead again in the bottom of the inning, scoring twice more. With two outs and two on, Nic Barnes tripled to right-center field, scoring both runners and pulling ahead 5-3.

The Yellowjackets went down quietly in the top of the fourth, and reliever Riley Grandson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) set the Eagles down in order in the bottom half of the inning, at which time the teams would be forced to wait out a rain delay that lasted 3 hours and 18 minutes. When the game resumed, the Yellowjacket bats, which had scratched out just two hits to this point, woke up and the Yellowjackets pulled away.

Duex and Dittel had back-to-back walks to start the sixth inning, and Robbie Veith (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) bunted both runners into scoring position. Wyatt Soderquist (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) brought Duex home with a sacrifice fly, and in the next at bat Dittel scored on a TJ Evanson (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) single to tie the game 5-5.

In the seventh the Yellowjackets blew the game open.

With one out Remund walked for the third time in the game. Flaherty followed with a double, scoring Remund with the eventual game-winning run. Duex followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Next, Dittel reached on a fielder's choice and an error brought Flaherty home. Two hitters later, Soderquist reached on another error, loading the bases for Evanson, who singled through the left side. Duex scored on the play and because of an error, Dittel came around as well and the Yellowjackets were up 9-5.

Grandson continued his fantastic pitching performance, setting the Eagles down with ease in the seventh and eighth innings. Grandson gave way to Travis Elwood (Ramsey, Minn./Anoka) in the ninth. And despite walking a pair, Elwood shut the Eagles down to preserve the win for the Yellowjackets.

The Yellowjackets were outhit 8-7 in the game, but five La Crosse errors helped the offense along the way. Dittel had a great game at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks. He scored two runs and also drove in two. Evanson also had two hits and drove in a pair.

Grandson was credited with the win, the first of his collegiate career. He pitched five scoreless innings of relief, giving up just two hits to go with a walk and a strikeout. He came on in the fourth inning for Miller, who gave up five earned runs on six hits along with five walks in three innings.

Barnes led the way for La Crosse, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI.

Gunnar Neale, who came on in relief in the third inning, was credited with the loss for the Eagles.

Game 2
Yellowjackets 6, La Crosse 2
Box Score

Another game and another rough start for the Yellowjackets, as the Eagles jumped out early, scoring twice in the first.

With one out Rowles bunted his way on and Cefalu doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Cordova flew out to bring home Rowles and it was 1-0. Garrett Novinski legged out an infield single in the next at bat to score the second run of the inning.

From there, starter Dan Genrich (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) was in control, shutting down the Eagles and giving the Yellowjackets the chance to jump ahead.

The Yellowjackets finally broke through against La Crosse starter Matt Kowalke in the top of the fifth.

Flaherty led off with a single to right field and Duex followed with a walk. An error on Dittel's sacrifice attempt loaded the bases and Veith made the Eagles pay, lacing a single to left field, scoring a pair and tying the game. Soderquist followed with a ground out that scored Dittel with the go-ahead run, making it 3-2.

It stayed that way until the top of the seventh when the Yellowjackets tacked on three more.

Veith reached on an error to lead off the inning. Two hitters later Evanson provided the big blow of the game, depositing a Kevin Johnson pitch over the fence in left field to make it 5-2. Flaherty brought home the final run of the game, a sacrifice fly scoring Jeff Miller (Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn) later in the inning to make the final score 6-2.

After the initial outburst in the first, La Crosse did get runners on base, but they weren't able to generate any sort of threat the rest of the way. A lot of that had to do with Genrich, who pitched seven-and-a-third innings and gave up two earned runs while scattering eight hits. He walked three and struck out four. Cody Johnson (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) pitched a perfect inning-and-two-thirds.

The Yellowjacket offense produced just six hits in the game, led by Flaherty, who went 2-for-3. Veith and Evanson each drove in two.

Novinski was the leader for the Eagles in the second game, knocking out three of the team's eight hits. Cordova added two hits for La Crosse, who received votes in this week's d3baseball.com poll.

The Yellowjackets (12-13, 5-5 WIAC) return to action on Saturday, April 20 when they travel to Oshkosh for a four-game series against the Titans, the team directly ahead of them in the WIAC standings. Game time on Saturday from Tiedemann Field is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.