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April 14, 2000
Eagles get first winBy JIM BASTIAN Journal Sports Writer NEW ULM -- It was a game that the New Ulm Eagle baseball team needed. Evan Jacobs, Andy Stolt and Scott O'Brien each banged out two hits and righthander Ryan Wellmann struck out eight as the Eagles won their first game of the season by shellacking USC 11-1 in the South Central Conference opener for both squads. The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run lead rule. Wellmann allowed only two hits, both coming in the first inning when the Rebels (1-2, 0-1) scored their only run of the game. New Ulm will travel to Henry Sibley Saturday for a nonconference match-up. "This was a game that we needed to win," said Eagle head coach Jim Senske. "We did swing the bat a little better (10 hits); we were jumping on the first pitch. Plus, the pitching may not have been as strong as the first two games (Mankato West and Minnetonka). But we got some hits in some clutch situations today." The Rebels would take a 1-0 lead off Wellmann in the top of the first inning. Travis Wermedal led off the game with a bunt single and Joe Rodriguez was hit by a pitch. Dominc Schultz followed by drilling a 3-1 Wellmann pitch to right field to score Wermedal for a 1-0 lead. Adam Gunske's sinking liner to left was caught by Travis Boddy whose throw to second easily doubled off Schultz. After that, Wellmann had Rebel hitters fooled as he allowed just two more base runners the rest of the game; a two-out walk to Craig Kauffmann following the double play and when he hit Trent Ulrich with two out in the fourth inning. Other than that, USC bats were quiet as Wellmann fanned four in a row. Of the final 12 outs of the game, seven were via the strikeout. The Eagles infield defense recorded only one putout, that coming on a Kaufmann groundball to second. New Ulm's outfield had two putouts in the final four innings. Down 1-0, New Ulm would plate two runs in the bottom of the first. Andy Stolt drew a one-out walk and scored when O'Brien tripled to deep center field to tie the game. O'Brien then scored when the relay throw from USC centerfielder Kauffman went over the head of the cut-off man. The Eagles tacked on solo runs in both the second and third innings. In the second, Jason Schmitz walked, stole second, took third on a Travis Thorson groundout and scored on Jacobs' single. In the third inning, Al Wurtzberger led off with a double to center and came home on Thorson's two-out line single to center. New Ulm then sent 12 men to the plate in the fourth inning and scored seven runs. A Jacobs' walk and a Stolt single repceeded an O'Brien single that brought in Jacobs. Stolt came home on the same play on an error by the Rebel catcher for a 6-1 lead. Mitch Stueber's RBI single, a walk to Boddy and a run-scoring single by Schmitz increased the New Ulm lead to 8-1. A USC error on a fly ball by Thorson scored Boddy. Dave Feldt, who took the mound loss for the Rebels, was then replaced by Jon Beyer, who walked Kurt Andersen to load the bases. Matt Schmidt's pinch-hit, two-run single brought in the final two runs. "We got some hits in some clutch situations today," commented Senske. "Scott (O'Brien) is a good hitter; he has to learn to be patient. He got a quality at-bat and is a dangerous out, but needs to be patient because he will be walked a few times. This was a performance that we needed at this time for this club." New Ulm's B-squad also won, topping the Rebels 9-3. Chris Cariveau got the win on the mound, and teammate Danny Kitzberger led the offense by going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Both Dusty Fleck and Mike Grossmann went 2-for-4. The C-squad (2-0) swamped USC 12-3. Derrik Johnson went 3-for-3 with a home run and five RBIs. Eric Austvold also racked up three hits and scored three runs. Tyson Anderson was the winning pitcher. USC 100 00 -- 1 2 3 NEW ULM 211 7x -- 11 10 0 WP--Wellmann, LP--Feldt. 2B: Schultz (USC), Wurtzberger (NU). 3B: O'Brien (NU).
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