AUBURNDALE, Fla. — The UW-River Falls baseball team made a triumphant return on Wednesday, March 12, winning 14-3 against Nebraska Wesleyan University in the first of six games during its spring break trip at the RussMatt Invitational.
The game marked the first varsity contest in Falcon Baseball history since May 5, 2002 as UWRF returned to the diamond after nearly a 23-year absence. The program was reinstated in summer of 2023, and the win also marked the first for head coach
Steve Bartlein.
The Falcons found themselves down 2-1 after two innings, before a high-octane fifth and sixth inning saw UWRF tally 12 runs unanswered, shifting the control of the game.
Junior
Kole Paulsen singled to centerfield to score
Shaun Gavin in the top of the second, marking UWRF's first run scored since the reinstatement of the program. However, an RBI-triple and sacrifice hit put Nebraska Wesleyan back up 2-1.
Across the fifth and sixth innings, the Falcons capitalized off six wild pitches that resulted in runs, as well as an error in the outfield that scored an unearned run. Also in that two-inning stretch, Gavin doubled to score two runners,
Max Stocco singled in a run, and
Cade Bruett doubled to score two runners. Following the explosive fifth and sixth innings, UWRF went from down 2-1 to up 13-2.
The Prairie Wolves managed a run in the fifth inning to trim UWRF's lead to 13-3, but another RBI-single by Paulsen in the seventh brought the score to 14-3, which would stand through the final out.
Kaleb Zabielski earned the win for UWRF, starting the game and throwing five innings. He allowed two earned runs off five hits and struck out three batters.
Evan Senobe and
EJ Kuster each threw one inning in relief — Kuster went three-up, three-down and struck out one batter.
At the plate, Paulsen and Gavin each finished with two RBIs. Gavin and Conner Weltzien each scored three runs each, while Bruett and
Max Krebs each scored twice. As a team, UWRF totaled seven stolen bases in the win.
Nebraska Wesleyan entered the game with an 8-0 record, the best start in program history.
Tomorrow, the Falcons face Minnesota Morris at 12:30 p.m. (ET) in Davenport, Fla.
