RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The UW-River Falls baseball team earned an 8-5 win over UW-Superior in its final non-conference game of the season on Wednesday afternoon at First National Bank of River Falls Field.
UWRF seized control with a five-run third inning and held off a late push from the Yellowjackets to secure the win, finishing the 2026 regular season non-conference slate at 7-4 while improving to 14-11 overall, including an 8-3 mark in April.
After falling behind early on a solo home run in the second, UWRF answered in the bottom half of the inning. Kaleb Zabielski reached after being hit by a pitch, stole second, and later scored on an RBI single from Ryan Eckerle to tie the game at 1-1.
UW-Superior briefly regained the lead in the third, but the Falcons responded with their decisive frame. Tanner Hraby and Carter Klein opened the inning with back-to-back singles before Andrew Athmann tied the game with an RBI double. Daniel Kibler followed with an RBI single, and a pair of wild pitches allowed another run to score. Eckerle capped the rally with a two-run single to give River Falls a 6-2 advantage.
UWS chipped away with a run in the sixth and added two more in the eighth to pull within one at 6-5. The Falcons responded immediately in the bottom half of the eighth. Zach Rombach and Max Krebs opened the inning with singles and both came around to score on sacrifice flies from Hraby and Athmann, extending the lead to 8-5.
Parker Nedland got the start on the mound and worked 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out two. John Santelman earned the win in relief, tossing 1.2 innings and allowing one run with two strikeouts. Brayden Ramus closed the door over the final 1.2 innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two to earn the save - the first of his career.
UWRF totaled 13 hits on the day, led by Eckerle's three-hit, three-RBI performance. Kibler also collected three hits and drove in a run, while Klein added two hits and scored once.
The Falcons look to carry their momentum into this weekend, set for a four-game WIAC series against UW-Oshkosh, April 18-19.
