Menomonie, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team earned a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) doubleheader sweep at UW-Stout Saturday afternoon at Nelson Field.  The Eagles won the opener, 13-9, and the nightcap, 14-6.  UWL improves to 21-6 overall and 10-0 in the WIAC while UW-Stout drops to 11-15 overall and 3-7 in the conference.

UWL, ranked ninth on this week's D3baseball.com Top-25 Poll, finished with 27 runs and 32 hits in the doubleheader.  It marks the 15th time in 27 games, including the sixth game in the last seven,  the Eagles have scored at least 10 runs.  UWL has recorded double-digit hits in 23 of 27 contests. 

UWL took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first in the opener Saturday on Justin Anderson's single to score Alex Cordova.  UW-Stout tallied four times in the bottom of the first, including three unearned runs as UWL committed two errors.   The Eagles came right back in the top of the second wiht four runs on five hits to take a 5-4 advantage.  Cordova, Taylor Kohlwey and Anderson each had RBI singles while Travis Buxton-Verstegen drove in a run on a  groundout.

The Eagles took a 6-4 lead in the top of the fourth as Joel Zyhowski scored on Anderson's RBI groundout. The Blue Devils came back in the bottom of the inning to take a 8-6 lead with four runs.

UWL tied the game at 8-8 in the top of the fifth and took an 11-8 lead with three runs in the top of the sixth.  Carter Hoffman's two-run home run tied the game in the fifth while Anderson delivered a three-run home run in the sixth.  UW-Stout cut the lead ot 11-9 in the bottom of the sixth, but UWL added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.  Kohlwey had a bunt single for hit to drive in a run in the seventh while Ben Morgan's sacrifice fly plated a run in the eighth.

Jameson Lavery (5-0) earned the win for UWL, pitching 5.0 innings, allowing nine hits, nine runs (five earned) and one walk with four strikeouts.  Brock Rude picked up his third save, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing three hits with five strikeouts.

The Eagles finished with 14 hits as seven starters recorded at least one.  Kohlwey, Anderson and Hoffman each had three hits with Anderson finishing with six RBI.

UWL scored a pair of runs in the top of the first in the nightcap on a Hoffman RBI single and Nate Heili fielder's choice.  UW-Stout cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the opening inning on a Noah Brown single. 

The Eagles added three runs in the third to lead 5-1 before the Blue Devils cut it to 5-2 in the bottom of the third.  Anderson hit his second home run of the day in the third for UWL while Morgan and Buxton-Verstegen each had run-scoring single.  Brown had an RBI single in the third for UW-Stout, but UWL scored five times in the fifth to lead 10-2 as Morgan, Zyhowski, Cordova, Kohlwey and Anderson each had an RBI.

UW-Stout cut the deficit to 10-4 in the bottom of the fifth. UWL scored twice in the seventh and ninth innings while UW-Stout tallied twice in the eighth. Heili had RBI singles in the seventh and ninth for the Eagles while Morgan had a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Jake Stern (1-1) picked up the win for UWL, going 3.0 innings in relief.  He allowed three hits and two runs with two strikeouts.  Travis Stahulak started for the Eagles, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing five hits, four runs (three earned) and three walks with one strikeout.

UWL totaled 18 hits in the second game Saturday with eight of nine starters recording at least one hit and one run.  Anderson went 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBI while Hoffman, Heili and Morgan each went 3-for-5.  Heili and Morgan each finished with three RBI.

Kohlwey extended his hitting streak to 30 games dating back to last season with hits in each game Saturday.  The 30-game hitting streak ranks third in single-season WIAC history.  Kohlwey (April 6, 2014 to March 21, 2015) and UW-Stout's Brad O'Connell (April 28, 2000 to May 5, 2001) hold the conference record with 37-game hitting streaks.

Cordova (19 games) and Anderson (17) both extended their hitting streaks Saturday for UWL.

UW-Stout finished with 13 hits in Sunday's nightcap as Brown went 4-for-5 with four RBI.

The teams will play another doubleheader Sunday, April 24 starting at 10 a.m.