Green Bay 8 – Waterloo 4

Green Bay used a Jacob House a homer over the right field wall and a series of stunning plays in the fifth for an 8-4 victory over Waterloo at Jones Sign Field inside Joannes Stadium on Sunday afternoon. After Waterloo (14-14, 24-37) tallied a trio of runs in the top of the fifth frame to cut its deficit to one, Green Bay (10-18, 25-36) answered with a series of startling offensive plays for three runs of its own. Within the inning, Joel Hutter (Des Moines Area CC) hit what appeared to be a home run, but it bounced off the top of the left-field wall for a double. Two batters later, Collin Kuhn (Arkansas) laid down a sacrifice bunt that trickled inside the foul line before hitting the third base bag for a single. The highlight reel inning was capped when Aaron Conway (Missouri State) stole home after Kuhn distracted the pitcher by heading for second base on a steal. After the excitement concluded, the Bullfrogs had a four-run lead, which proved to plenty enough for the win. Green Bay starter, Craig Gullickson (Clemson) threw four of his seven innings as shutout ball to earn his fifth win of the season.  He struck out four, while allowing three runs and eight hits. Kuhn was the driving force on offense for Green Bay with two hits, two runs scored, and three stolen bases. Tony Jandron (St. Norbert) added two hits, a run, and a stolen base. Michael Giller (Illinois) went 3-for-5 on the night, including a run scored in the Waterloo lineup. Phil Keppler (Iowa) and Zach McCool (Iowa) tallied two hits apiece, respectively. After a single and a walk, House (Arkansas) belted his third home run of the season. The three-run shot gave Green Bay a 3-0 lead after one inning of play. The Bullfrogs tacked on a run in the fourth frame to push their lead to four runs. House led off the inning with a walk prior to Jandron’s RBI single to right field. Waterloo three runs in the fifth came by way of Troy White’s (Northern Illinois) RBI double, along with Willie Argo (Illinois) and Kevin Wager’s (Villanova) RBI singles. The Bucks scored a run in the eighth when McCool hit a bloop RBI single to score Giller for a 7-4 score. The Bullfrogs padded its three-run cushion with an insurance run in their half with a Jandron leadoff walk and Conway RBI single through the left side. Jarod Wagoner (Butler) was roughed up for seven runs – six earned – and seven hits. He fanned a pair, but walked three in 4.2 innings on the mound.

Wisconsin 8 – Eau Claire 1

The Wisconsin Woodchucks kept their playoff hopes alive with their eighth straight home victory Sunday evening as they defeated the Eau Claire Express 8-1. The Express jumped ahead in the top of the first when Nolan Fadness drew a walk, stole second, and scored on a double by Kole Calhoun. The ‘Chucks evened the score in the second when Mike Marshall (Stanford) crushed the first pitch he saw out of the yard to make it 1-1. The next pitch Marshall saw in the fourth inning drilled him to give the ‘Chucks a base runner with two outs in the fourth. The next batter Carson Vitale (Creighton) lined a double down the left field line, and Eric Fritz (UW-Stevens Point) followed with a run-scoring single. The following at-bat, Chris Slater (Baylor) reached on an error to give the Woodchucks a 3-1 advantage after four innings. Things stayed that way until the eighth inning, that’s when the Woodchucks ripped the game open. The Woodchucks rallied for five runs, thanks in part to a pair of Eau Claire errors, which provided the ‘Chucks with a comfortable 8-1 lead and led another victory in front of the home town fans. Terrance Jackson (Oklahoma City) picked up the win after allowing just one run on four hits and striking six in 5.1 innings of work. Anthony Drobnick (Washington State) picked up his fourth save of the season after throwing two scoreless innings. Fritz led the way offensively, finishing 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Marshall scored three runs in addition to his game-tying home run. Joseph Lopez suffered the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits in seven innings. Nate Baumann had a team-high two hits in the loss.