AUBURNDALE, Fla. (blugolds.com) — A strong start helped the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire baseball team open its trip to Florida with a 7-4 victory over UW-Superior on Saturday at the RussMatt Invitational. The Blugolds scored four times in the first inning and never looked back for their second win of the season.
The Blugolds batted around the order in the bottom of the first inning, knocking five hits to score four times for an immediate lead. Andrew Murphy (Jr. - Mahtomedi, Minn.) drove home the game's first run with an RBI double to plate Nate Witte (Jr. - Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge). Walter Johnson (So. - Minnetonka, Minn.) followed with an RBI single, Matt Melendez (So. - River Grove, Ill./Notre Dame College Prep) knocked in a run and Austin Buck (Fr. - Stillwater, Minn.) added an RBI single to put UW-Eau Claire up 4-0.
The early outburst was enough support for starting pitcher PJ Ford (Fr. - Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows), who worked seven sterling innings. He struck out seven and held the Yellowjackets to three hits. The only run he surrendered was unearned. He walked just one batter.
Carson Windeshausen (So. - Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) added some insurance for UW-Eau Claire by belting a three-run home run to left field in the fifth inning. It was his second homer of the season.
UW-Superior's sole run off Ford came in the sixth, when the Blugolds led off the frame with an error before the Yellowjackets brought the runner in to score. They tacked on another run in the eighth off an error and twice more in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but Brennan Cohen (So. - Vestavia Hills, Ala.) slammed the door to finish off the win.
Witte, Murphy, Windeshausen and Buck all tallied two hits to pace the Blugolds' offense. Six members of the team's starting nine registered at least one hit.
The Blugolds will get back on the field on Sunday, March 18, with a game against Purchase State. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Eastern.
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