Early returns for the Yellowjacket baseball team show a club that is not struggling in any way to produce offense. On Tuesday, they swept a pair of games, winning single tilts over Macalester and Carroll and invoking the mercy rule in each instance, winning each game by at least ten runs.

Yellowjackets 16, Macalester 3

Yellowjacket starter Jake Lewis (Proctor, Minn./Proctor) got off to a rocky start in the opener, as he gave the Scots early life with back-to-back singles to start an immediate threat in the first. A sacrifice fly did plate a run and Macalester led 1-0 before the Yellowjackets came to bat.

The lead was short-lived as the Yellowjackets not only tied the game but took the lead for good in the bottom of the first.

Back-to-back singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out, and another walk brought home the tying run. After a ground out gave the Yellowjackets the go-ahead run, Sam Holden (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) tripled to drive in two more and give the Yellowjackets a 4-1 lead after one inning.

After going scoreless in the second the Yellowjackets scored three more runs in the third. The red-hot Tom Fairbanks (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) drove in two with a double, and Connor McLeod (Detroit Lakes, Minn./Detroit Lakes) was walked to force in the other.

Macalester closed the gap to 7-3 by scoring twice in the top of the fourth, but the Yellowjackets came roaring back and scored four times to push the edge to 11-3. Holden brought home two runs with a single, while Matt Vold (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls) and McLeod drove in runs with a single and fielder's choice, respectively.

The Yellowjackets closed out the scoring with a five-run fifth inning.

Fairbanks tripled home two runs, giving him five runs batted in for the game. Alex Quinones (Waterloo, Iowa) and McLeod drove in runs and another run came across on an error by Macalester.

The Yellowjacket offense was led by Fairbanks, who went 3-for-5 with a double and two triples to go along with his five RBI. McLeod, Brady Flaherty (Balsam Lake, Wis./Unity), Holden, and Vold all had two hits. The Yellowjackets had 14 hits in the game and all nine starters scored at least one run. Holden had four runs batted in, and McLeod drove in three.

Lewis gets the victory, improving to 1-0 on the year. He went the distance, giving up three runs on seven hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out seven.

Yellowjackets 24, Carroll 14

In the second game the Yellowjackets built up an early lead and needed every bit of it as Carroll came storming back and made it a game, before the Yellowjackets again pulled away and closed out the victory.

And as good as the opening game was for Fairbanks, the second was an even more impressive offensive display. The senior outfielder went deep three times, giving him six home runs through the first six games of the season.

After a scoreless first inning the Yellowjackets got their first two men on. Two hitters later Derek Cagle (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) tripled to give the Yellowjackets a 2-0 lead. Alex Petroski (Park Falls, Wis./Chequamegon) followed with a triple of his own, plating another run. Before the inning was over a ground out produced another run and the Yellowjackets were up 4-0.

They extended the lead with three more runs in the third. Remund led off with a walk and scored on Flaherty's second home run of the season to push the lead to 6-0. Fairbanks was up next and he deposited the ball over the outfield fence to make it a 7-0 game after three.

In the fourth the first two Yellowjacket hitters were retired. With two outs Wyatt Soderquist (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) doubled, and he came home on a double by Remund. Remund scored on an RBI single by Flaherty, who then came home on Fairbanks' second home run of the day and the lead was 11-0.

But as quickly as the Yellowjackets built the lead, it evaporated.

Carroll exploded in the top of the fifth inning, sending 13 men to the plate, ten of which scored, and before the final out was recorded the Yellowjackets saw their lead reduced to one, 11-10.

The Yellowjackets went scoreless in the fifth, but reasserted themselves in the sixth, scoring seven times.

Back-to-back errors put two men on, and after an out the Yellowjackets watched four straight hitters walk to score three runs. Then, with the bases loaded, Remund cleared them with a double and the lead was back to a comfortable margin, 18-10.

Carroll wasn't done, however. In the top of the seventh the Pioneers scored four times to trim the lead back down to four.

In the bottom of the inning the Yellowjackets again got the offense rolling, and scored enough runs to close out the Pioneers and pick up the win.

Fairbanks led off with his third home run of the game, but the next two hitters were retired. Cagle then restarted the rally with a walk, followed by a single from Petroski. An error then loaded the bases and Soderquist drew a walk to bring home a run. Then for the second time in the game Remund came to the plate with the bases loaded, and for the second time cleared the bases with a double to put the game on the brink. Flaherty came up next and closed out the game, doubling to score Remund and make the final score 24-14.

Offensively Fairbanks went 4-for-5, scored four times and drove in four runs. Remund was 3-for-5, scored four times and drove in seven. Flaherty went 3-for-6, scored three runs and drove in four. All nine Yellowjackets scored at least one run. Eight different Yellowjackets drove in a run and seven different players had at least one hit.

Damian Wiblin (La Crosse, Wis./Logan) started on the mound for the Yellowjackets and earned the win, pitching 4.1 innings. He gave up nine runs on 12 hits to go along with four walks and three strikeouts. Wiblin was chased from the game during Carroll's ten-run fifth inning. Grant Schneider (Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial) came on in relief and finished the game, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits in 2.2 innings. He walked one and struck out one.

The Yellowjackets (5-1) will have an off day on Wednesday and return to action on Thursday, March 20 when they play a doubleheader against Mayville State University.