DAVENPORT, Fla. — The UW-River Falls baseball team defeated Simpson College 10-3 on Wednesday morning, wrapping up its Florida spring break trip with a 4-1 record at the RussMatt Invite.
The Falcons broke the game open in the second inning, plating six runs on five hits while capitalizing on a pair of Simpson errors. After three consecutive RBI singles from Ryan Eckerle, Jeffrey Freund, and Teagun Ahrens gave UWRF a 3-0 lead, the Falcons continued to apply pressure with aggressive baserunning and timely hitting to extend the margin to 6-0.
UWRF added three more runs in the third inning, highlighted by a two-run double from Freund, pushing the advantage to 9-0. The Falcons tacked on another run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from JV Castillo to make it 10-0.
Simpson broke through in the fifth inning and added two more runs in the seventh, but the early deficit proved too much to overcome.
The Falcons totaled 13 hits on the day, with Freund leading the way with a 2-for-4 performance and three RBI. Eckerle and Castillo each added two hits and an RBI, while Patrick Lundgren scored twice and reached base three times. John Santelman also contributed two hits and swiped a pair of bases as UWRF finished with four stolen bases in the contest.
On the mound, Vaughn Johnson earned the win, improving to 2-0 on the season. The right-hander tossed five innings, allowing one run on seven hits while striking out six. The Falcons bullpen combined to limit Simpson to two runs over the final four innings, with Connor Ducklow striking out two in a scoreless ninth to close out the game.
UWRF is set for a trio of games this weekend, traveling to Beloit College on Friday afternoon, followed by a doubleheader at Carroll University on Saturday.
