Baseball 3/4/08 -- Wisconsin-La Crosse 8-2, Augsburg (Minn.) 4-1
CLICK HERE FOR GAME 1 BOXSCORE
CLICK HERE FOR GAME 2 BOXSCORE
CLICK HERE FOR AUGSBURG SEASON STATISTICS
MINNEAPOLIS (3/4/08) -- Storm Gram (JR, Woodbury, Minn.) went 3-for-3 with a solo home run in the second game, and Cory Poppitz (JR, Chaska, Minn.) laced a two-run triple as part of a five-run second inning in the first game, as the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse swept Augsburg College in a nonconference baseball doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The Eagles (2-0 overall) won the first game 8-4 and the second game 2-1.
Augsburg (1-3 overall) was limited to just four hits in each game. Rick Andersen (SR, Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) and Mike Zaun * (SR, Mendota Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) had doubles for the Auggies in the second game, with Andersen scoring two runs.
Augsburg opened the scoring in the first game in the second inning, as Zaun doubled home Andersen. But the Eagles put five runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second, sending eight batters to the plate. An RBI single by Lance Poppy (SO, New London, Wis.) produced a run, followed by Poppitz's two-run triple to right. A sacrifice fly drove in another run, and the Eagles pulled off a double-steal for the final run of the frame.
Augsburg scored three runs in the top of the third, as a double by Andersen plated a run and a fielding error drove home two more runs. The Eagles added a run in the bottom of the third on a single by Joey Casper (JR, Onalaska, Wis.) and two more in the sixth, on a double and a bases-loaded walk.
The second game started as a pitchers' duel between Augsburg's Alex Glasenapp (SO, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) and Wisconsin-La Crosse's Ross Benitz (JR, Osceola, Wis.). Glasenapp struck out five while walking one in five innings of work, while Benitz struck out four while walking three and allowing just two hits in 4.2 innings.
The Eagles took the lead in the top of the fifth inning, as Gram stroked a two-out, solo home run to right field, and added another run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Mike Schmidt (SR, Menomonie, Wis.). Augsburg scored in the bottom of the sixth, as Al Davis (FY, St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) drove home Andersen on an RBI single.
Both teams' relievers were effective down the stretch. Shawn Sanders (JR, St. Charles, Minn.) and Brian Olson (JR, Cottage Grove, Minn./Park HS) each pitched an inning for the Auggies, with Olson striking out two of the four batters he faced. Greg Gibson (SO, Appleton, Wis./Xavier HS) and Mike Brehm (SR, Spencer, Wis.) pitched in relief for the Eagles, with Brehm striking out all three batters he faced in the seventh to earn the save. He also pitched an inning of relief in the first game.
Augsburg has its final Metrodome doubleheader on Friday (3/7) at 10 p.m., facing Wisconsin-Whitewater. Wisconsin-La Crosse is idle until March 14, when it begins its spring trip to the Phoenix, Ariz., area, with a 2 p.m. game against Montclair State (N.J.) in Chandler, Ariz.
