On a picture-perfect Sunday afternoon in Whitewater, Wis., the Yellowjackets baseball team closed out its 2013 regular season with a pair of games agianst UW-Stout knowing that they needed at least one win, and possbily two in order to stay in WIAC playoff contention. They accomplished their mission, picking up a victory, but it was anything but easy as the Blue Devils gave them everything they could handle and then some in the doubleheader.

A pitcher's duel in the first game carried over into the second game, and the Yellowjackets, who didn't mount much of an offensive attack throughout the day, got the bats rolling at the end of game two and rallied from behind to salvage a split on the day and the weekend.

Game 1
Stout 1, Yellowjackets 0
Box Score

The Yellowjackets turned to freshman Jake Lewis (Proctor, Minn./Proctor) in the opener on Sunday and he pitched arguably the best game of his young college career, holding a Stout offense that swung the bats well on Saturday at bay, allowing just seven hits. He did, however, commit a cardinal sin among pitchers in the top of the third - he walked the lead-off hitter.

Jackson Hallahan coaxed the walk and after Mitch LaVelle flew out, he partnered with Jake Lunow to execute a perfect hit-and-run to put runners on the corners. Santiago Morales followed with a sacrifice fly to center field, plating Hallahan to make it 1-0.

Lewis settled in after that, not giving the Blue Devils much of anything in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. In the eighth Stout put two runners on with two outs and spelled the end of the day for Lewis, who was relieved by Riley Grandson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East). Grandson came on and closed the door, keeping the game at 1-0.

On the other side, starter Brad Kohn was masterful in shutting the Yellowjackets down. The biggest threat of the game for the Yellowjackets came in the last of the fourth when they loaded the bases with one out, but Kohn got Tony Remund (Andover, Minn./Coon Rapids) to line out to shortstop and Tom Fairbanks (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd), who strayed too far from second was doubled off to put an end to the threat.

The Yellowjackets put multiple runners on in the sixth and again in the seventh, but the double play ball was again friendly to the Blue Devils and the Yellowjackets had their rally snuffed out.

Kohn got stronger as the game went on and was perfect in the eighth and ninth innings, to close out the game and earn the win. Kohn gave up seven hits in the complete-game shutout, walking one and striking out six.

For the Yellowjackets, Lewis was tagged with the hard-luck loss, falling to 2-3 on the year. He pitched seven-and-two-thirds innings, allowing the one run on seven hits. He walked three (two intentionally) and struck out one. Grandson pitched one inning and Michael Doescher (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) closed out the ninth inning.

At the plate the Yellowjackets were led by TJ Evanson (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) and Jeff Miller (Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn) each went 2-for-4.

LaVelle and Morales had two hits each for Stout.

Game 2
Yellowjackets 4, Stout 3
Box Score

The first game may have ended, but the pitching dominance did not, carrying over into the second game as the teams seemed poised to set a record for fewest runs scored between two teams in a doubleheader.

In game two Kyle Gauger (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) got the start for the Yellowjackets and Dan Britts countered for Stout. The two exchanged zeroes through four innings before the Blue Devils broke through in the fifth.

With one out the Blue Devils used a Yellowjacket error to score three times. With a runner on second and two outs, Stout coaxed back-to-back walks out of Gauger and Morales came through in the clutch with a two-run single to make it 2-0. Charlie Meyer followed with an RBI single and the Blue Devils lead 3-0 at the mid-point of the game.

Meanwhile, the Yellowjackets were flummoxed at the plate, scratching just one hit, a first-inning single by Evanson, through four. Remund singled in the fifth, but was erased on a fielder's choice.

It wasn't until the eighth inning that they were able to break through. With one out, Robbie Veith (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) drove a Britts' pitch over the fence in left field for his fourth of the season to cut the lead to 3-1.

After Gauger set the Blue Devils down in the ninth, the stage was set for some late-game heroics.

Miller led off the inning with a single up the middle. Fairbanks followed with a drive to left-center field that easily would have scored Miller and put the tying run on third, but an unfriendly hop off the rubberized warning track resulted in a ground rule double and runners on second and third. Two hitters later, Remund came up big with a single to left field that plated both Miller and Fairbanks to tie the game at 3-3.

That spelled the end of the day for Britts, who had pitched a gem of a game through eight-and-a-third innings.

The bullpen then walked Sam Holden (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) intentionally after falling behind early, and another pitching change was made with two on and one out. Senior Casey Dittel (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury), who had been injured recently only to return to the lineup today, singled to left field to load the bases and give Veith the chance to put an end to the game.

After taking one pitch, Veith lined a tough one-hopper off the glove of the third baseman, advancing everyone a base and sending Remund home with the run that gave the Yellowjackets the 4-3 victory.

Veith, Evanson and Remund each had two hits to lead the Yellowjackets, who improved to 16-23 overall and 9-15 in the conference. Remund and Veith also added two RBI each.

Gauger went the distance for the Yellowjackets, improving to 6-6 on the year. He gave up three runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Britts took the loss after giving up all four runs on eight hits with four walks and two strikeouts. La Velle again led the Blue Devils at the plate, going 2-for-3. He went 9-for-17 on the weekend.

What We Know: The top four teams in the WIAC qualify for the post-season. The top three spots have already been decided, going to UW-Whitewater, the 2013 conference champion, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Oshkosh. The Yellowjackets and UW-La Crosse are the two teams in contention for the fourth and final spot in the playoffs. While the Yellowjackets are done for the year, La Crosse has a pair of games remaining, at home on Wednesday against UW-Stout. Should the Blue Devils gain the road sweep, the Yellowjackets could be looking at their first-ever WIAC playoff berth.

The games between Stout and La Crosse on Wednesday, May 8 get underway at 1:00 p.m.