RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The UW-River Falls baseball team split an afternoon doubleheader at UW-Eau Claire on Friday at Carson Park, falling 13-3 before a 9-2 win.

After a 10-run loss in game one, the Falcons responded with an all-around effort in game two to even the series at one apiece. The Falcons and Blugolds round out the weekend and series with a doubleheader tomorrow starting at noon.

UW-Eau Claire 13, UW-River Falls 3 (7 inn.)
The Blugolds overpowered the Falcons in game one, amassing six extra base hits and 17 total base hits while starting pitcher Nicholas Meuser went the distance, limiting the Falcons to three runs off eight hits.

After RBI doubles from Parker Behling and Colton Skoglund plated a pair of Falcon runs to trail 4-2 after three innings, the home team put together a big fourth inning, scoring six runs off seven hits and one UWRF error to claim an 11-2 advantage to effectively put the game out of reach.

An RBI groundout from JV Castillo scored one more run for UWRF but that was all the offense the Falcons constructed.

A trio of Falcons hat two each hits each; Behling, Tanner Hraby, and Ryan Eckerle. 

Cade Bruett made his ninth start of the season on the mound and suffered the loss, allowing three earned runs in three innings. 
 
UW-River Falls 9, UW-Eau Claire 2
The Falcons bounced back in game two of the day and series with nine runs off three hits along with a solid performance from their pitching staff, led by starting pitcher Jackson Conway, who collected his first career win.

UWEC took an early lead with a solo homer in the second but the Falcons quickly responded in the third inning by loading the bases and a Connor Ducklow hit by pitch RBI tied the game at 1-1. One inning later, a Tanner Hraby RBI single gave the Falcons their first lead of the day, in which they held on to for the remainder of the game.

UWRF extended its lead in the sixth inning off a two-run single by Connor Weltzien to make it 4-1. Although the Blugolds added a run in the bottom half, the Falcons continued to build their lead, scoring two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth, including more RBIs from Weltzien and Hraby, culminating in a 9-2 victory.

Conway went 5.2 innings and allowed two runs with five strikeouts during his first win as a Falcon. Isaac Mens followed with 2.1 scoreless innings in relief and Shaun Gavin shut the door in the ninth, neither allowing a Blugold base hit.

Weltzien finished with a season-high four RBIs, followed by three from Hraby with both tallying two hits. Cade Bruett also had a pair of hits.