College baseball: UW-Eau Claire gets first wins since relaunching program
Apr. 17—UW-Eau Claire baseball, brought back to the varsity level this year for the first time since 1995, has already experienced its fair share of firsts this spring.
The Blugolds played their first game in a new era, their first game back in Eau Claire, their first game at historic Carson Park. But those were all inevitable. All UW-Eau Claire had to do was show up to secure those milestones.
On Friday, the program finally secured one they had to earn.
UW-Eau Claire swept WIAC rival Finlandia in a doubleheader at Carson Park, winning the opener 2-0 and the nightcap 18-8, to claim the program's first wins since its resurrection. UW-Eau Claire athletic director Dan Schumacher presented coach Charles Bolden with the game ball after the opener, a gesture that drew cheers from the student-athletes.
After 14 unsuccessful attempts at their first victory, Bolden hopes Friday's action gets the monkey off the team's back.
"Now we've got something to rely on," Bolden said. "Now we have a reference point. Now the pressure of it is gone, and I think they were putting more pressure on themselves than even I was. Now that we officially know we can do that, we know what we need to do to get back to that point and stay at that level."
Righty pitcher Tom Ginther secured a plethora of firsts for the program in the opener, claiming the first win since the restart, the first shutout and first complete game. He allowed seven hits and two walks while striking out nine on 100 pitches.
"He was working fast and throwing strikes," Bolden said. "We've struggled to throw strikes and struggled defensively. Just throwing strikes and staying consistent in the strike zone, that's huge. If you can throw strikes and keep the defense on their toes, prevent them from being flat-footed, that gets us back in the dugout and try to score more runs — and the better off we'll be."
Designated hitter Johnny Pecora drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the fourth, getting Henry Pitsch home from third on a sacrifice fly to right field. Pitsch added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a home run to right, the first career collegiate home run for the Madison native.
Ginther was tested by the Lions in the top of the ninth. Harrison Kampf earned a leadoff walk before being replaced by pinch runner Jacob Godoshian. The replacement runner got to second on a fielder's choice a batter later and made the turn at third on an ensuing Austin Green single but was thrown out at home when left fielder David Janssen, third baseman Otto Treichel and catcher Cade Mueller connected on a cutoff play.
"In that situation, we read the runner and did the right thing fundamentally," Bolden said. "This game comes down to fundamental things: throw, catch and hit. In that situation, we played catch properly. We made the right calls, had a great relay and it got us out of a tight spot. That was a big spot for us."
UW-Eau Claire sealed it with a fielder's choice to second base when shortstop Logan Matson successfully threw to Chase Yaeger.
"It took a little longer into the season than we thought to get the first one, but it tastes just as good," Ginther said. "We made it interesting, too. We played pretty good baseball all the way around, and that's what we've been waiting to do this season. We've had games that could have gone either way, but we didn't put a full nine innings together. But we finally did it today. So that's good, and we're going to hopefully use that going forward. Hopefully today is the first of many."
The victory was also a milestone for Bolden, who earned his first collegiate triumph. He previously spent time at the collegiate level as an assistant coach with Division III Illinois Tech and Division I Chicago State, but is getting his first chance to run his own program with the Blugolds.
A reported crowd of 106 was on hand to witness history. Those who stuck around got to see more celebrations before the night was done.
UW-Eau Claire scored six runs in the second inning of the second game and 11 in a three-inning span from the fifth to the seventh in a rout. Pitsch and Matson each drove in three runs, while Mueller got home a pair in a game shortened to eight innings thanks to the lopsided score.
Will Mosinski earned the win with five innings of work. He allowed three unearned runs, five hits and three walks while striking out six. Jake Fischer sealed the sweep in the final two innings after Brenton Boldt allowed four earned runs and one unearned to the Lions.
These teams will meet again on Saturday at Carson Park in another doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1 p.m., with the second game scheduled to start around 4 p.m.
"It's nice for them to just know that they can play a full game," Bolden said. "I talk about it all the time, just playing nine innings of baseball. That first game, we did that. It was 2-0, it was quick-paced, it was good defense, it was good all-around quality baseball, and that's kind of what we've been looking for all year. We've had games where we've played good baseball for eight innings and can't exactly finish. It was just nice to see that."
