Between Thursday, March 27, and Friday, March 28, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Baseball team swept the UW-Stout Blue Devils during the team’s home opener for the 2025 season.
UWL Baseball defeated UW-Stout in each of their four games, playing two on Thursday, March 27 and the others on Friday, March 28.
In Thursday’s first contest, the Eagles defeated the Blue Devils by a score of 16-2.
The Eagles run-ruled the Blue Devils in seven innings, with third-year Pitcher Owen Deprez earning the win. Deprez’s record advanced to 3-0 on the season. Deprez threw 6.0 innings pitched (IP), striking out (SO) 10 batters.
In the batter’s box, the Eagles were just as productive. The Eagles hit back-to-back home runs (HRs) in the third inning, off the bats of Andrew Rajkovich and Calvin Hargrove. Rajkovic led the Eagles in runs batted in (RBI) with four in the contest.
Chris VandenHeuvel and Nate Witte each contributed with a double. Four players, including VandenHeuvel, were hit by a pitch (HBP) in the game.
In the second contest, the Eagles dominated once again, claiming victory over the Blue Devils by a score of 12-7. Rajkovich had another four RBIs, along with two HRs. George Seaman also hit a HR, with a solo HR in the third inning.
Witte was one hit away from the cycle, with a double, an RBI triple and a two-RBI HR in the 5th inning.
On the mound, AJ Curtis and Mitchel Fassbender each threw 4.0 innings. Fassbender earned the win, with 7 SO.
The Eagles continued their dominance on Friday, with another pair of victories over the Blue Devils. In the first game, the Eagles once again run-ruled the Blue Devils in seven innings, by a score of 13-2. Seaman contributed 5 RBI on 2 hits, including a solo HR in the 2nd inning.
Seaman’s HR was the second of three HRs hit by the Eagles early in the contest. Rajkovic hit a solo shot in the second inning and Jack Olver hit a two-run shot in the third. Both Seaman and Rajkovic also hit doubles in the contest.
VandenHeuvel and Hargrove both reached stolen bases (SB) in the contest. Isaiah Katz threw 7.0 IP, facing 25 batters. Katz walked (BB) one and struck out six to earn the win, advancing his record to 3-1 on the season.
In the last game of the weekend for UWL Baseball, the Eagles took victory 16-11. The Eagles put up four runs in the first inning, after a flurry of singles filled the bases.
In the second, VandenHeuvel knocked in Alec Campbell, scoring two runs with an HR to right field.
Campbell hit a two-RBI triple in the fourth. In the same inning, Rajkovic hit a three-run HR to bring the Eagles within one run of the Blue Devils, 10-9. In the fifth inning, Rajkovic earned another RBI, bringing Witte in to score. Witte contributed three doubles and scored four runs in the game.
The Eagles wouldn’t score again until the seventh inning, when Anthony Vivian hit a three-run HR over the right center wall. Vivian had 4 RBI in the contest.
VandenHeuvel sealed the deal for the Eagles, hitting his second HR of the contest in the eighth inning to put the Eagles up 16-11. The Blue Devils were unable to rally in the ninth and the Eagles took victory.
Witte had two SB in the contest while Keegan Fleischman had one. The Eagles used four pitchers in the game, with Tucker Bouche earning the win. Bouche threw 3.1IP, with SO and giving up one run.
The four wins over the Blue Devils put the team at 13-2 on the season. The Eagles are currently ranked #13 in the nation in the D3Baseball.com NCBWA Week 4 poll. The Eagles’ next matchup will be against the UW-Oshkosh Titans on Saturday, April 5.
