SOFTBALL
The Blue Devils (8-2) will be at the Simpson College Tournament in Indianola, Iowa, March 20-21. The Blue Devils, off to their best start ever, will face Wartburg and St. Scholastica, Saturday, then will play host Simpson and Coe College, Sunday. Last week: The Blue Devils twice defeated Hiram, 6-4, 9-1, and defeated Kean, 8-0, Waynesburg, 3-1, and Illinois College, 2-0, and lost to nationally ranked SUNY-Cortland, 3-1. Player of the week: Kaela Wold, Jr, Altoona, Wis.

BASEBALL
The Blue Devils (0-4) will travel to Peoria, Ill, to face NCAA Division I Bradley University for a couple of seven inning games, Sunday, March 21. Last week: Stout lost four games on their trip to Texas, falling 8-5, and 15-5 to Texas Lutheran and 8-3, 3-2, to Trinity. Player of the week: Corey Endreas, Sr, Spencer, Wis.

GYMNASTICS
The Blue Devils will be at the NCGA West Regionals, Friday, March 19 at UW-Eau Claire. Last week: Stout was off last week.

WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
The Blue Devils will be off until April 3 when they open the outdoor season at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Last week: Stout placed fifth at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, Stout's highest finish ever. Laura Verdegan won the triple jump and was fourth in the long jump. Marci Schachtner was third in the weight throw and Ann Schachtner was 14th in the shot put.

MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
The Blue Devils will be off until April 3 when they open the outdoor season at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Last week: Stout was off last week.

Softball

March 11, 2004

The Blue Devils (8-2) finished the final two days by winning three games and losing their only game to No. 7 ranked SUNY-Cortland.

The Blue Devils lost 3-1 to Cortland, Wednesday, March 10, as the Red Dragons scored once in the second, the fourth and again in the sixth.

Stout got their only run in the sixth when Kim Caswell (Sr, Stanley) led off the inning with a single, then stole second. Justine Lehman (Fr, Luck) and Erin O'Connell (Jr, Altoona) walked to load the bases. Kaela Wold (Jr, Altoona) singled to plate Caswell, but Stout would leave the bases loaded.

Stout bounced back later that day to defeat Waynesburg, Pa, College, 3-1. Lehman rapped out an RBI triple in the first inning, and Wold drove in another run to put Stout up 2-0 in the first. Waynesburg scored on a wild pitch in their half of the inning. Stout added another run in the fourth when Caswell pounded an RBI triple.

The Blue Devils blanked Illinois College, 2-0, Thursday, March 11, then pounded Hiram, Ohio, College, 9-1, in six innings to wrap up their Florida schedule.

Against Illinois, O'Connell drove in Lehman in the first inning for the eventual winning run. Stout added another run in the fourth when Wold led off with a double, was moved to third by a Jamie Gorges (Jr, New London) sacrifice bunt, then scored on a Courtney Zafft (So, Rochester, Minn) sacrifice fly.

Megan Donley (So, Fridley, Minn) notched the shutout by allowing only two hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Donley allowed no runners past second in recording Stout's fourth shutout of the season.

Lehman came through big for the Blue Devils against Hiram, unleashing a bases loaded, three run triple to cap off a six run sixth inning. Caswell, Angie Kliber (So, Swanville, Minn) and Cassie Tock (Fr, Sparta) came through with one-run singles in the inning.

Kelly Spittel (Fr, Menomonee Falls) delivered an RBI double to get Stout started in the second inning, then eventually scored on a throwing error. Lehman opened the third inning with a single, then stole second and was brought home on a single by O'Connell.

Hiram's only run came in the fifth inning.

Stout will be at the Simpson College tournament, March 20-21.

March 8, 2004

KISSIMMEE, Fla - UW-Stout may have found their offense as the Blue Devils recorded their third consecutive game with six runs or more in their third day at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla., Monday, March 8.

The Blue Devils extended their record to 5-1 overall with a 6-4 win over Hiram, Ohio, College and a six-inning, 8-0, decision over Kean, NJ, University.

Emily Zahn (So, Champlin, Minn) went the distance against Hiram to record her first win of the season. Megan Donley (So, Fridley, Minn) notched her second shutout of the season by taking the win against Kean.

March 11, 2004

The Tigers, ranked 25th in the first Division III poll, got an unearned run in the bottom of the 11th for a 3-2 win. The day before, Trinity defeated Stout, 8-3.

Trinity took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning after loading the bases, then added a run in the seventh.

Stout countered in the top of the eighth with two runs to tie the score. Corey Endreas (Sr, Spencer), who finished the four-game series in Texas batting a team-high .462, led off the inning with a single, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Endreas scored on a sacrifice fly by Jon Kroening (Sr, Ladysmith). Greg Meinertz (Jr, La Crosse), who had reached on a single, scored on Kroening's fly ball when Meinertz moved to third, then scored on an error.

The Blue Devils (0-4) left two runners stranded in the 10th, but the Tigers (13-3) bunted runners around to load the bases, then drew a walk for the winning run.

Todd Brunclik (So, Rice Lake) and Meinertz each went 2-for-5 as Stout recorded seven hits to Trinity's 10. Stout finished with five errors, and Trinity four.

In the teams' opening game March 10, the Blue Devils took advantage of an error-laden third inning to take a 3-1 lead, only to see Trinity come back and tie the game with two runs in the bottom of the third.

Stout scored all three of their runs with two outs. Tim Nielson (So, Rosemount, Minn) got things started with a two-out single to center field. Endreas moved Nielson with a single up the middle. Meinertz struck out, but the dropped strike was thrown into the outfield, scoring Nielson and advancing Endreas to third and Meinertz to second. Nick Ziegler (So, Plymouth, Minn) loaded the bases with a walk. Kroening continued the Tigers' woes, reaching on a fielding error by the pitcher, allowing two runs to score.

Trinity scored two in the third when Huston O'Conner delivered a two-run double. Trinity took the lead with a three-run fifth and tagged on two more runs in the seventh.

Stout managed only four base runners after the third inning., and one was picked off and another eliminated on the front end of a double play. Stout was outhit, 10-5, and, other than the third inning, had only one runner get as far as second base.

Stout is off until Sunday, March 21, they travel to Peoria, Ill, to face NCAA Division I Bradley University.

March 9, 2004

Stout (0-2) held a 4-0 lead after two innings. Stout scored twice in the first when Corey Endreas (Sr, Spencer) doubled and Greg Meinertz (Jr, La Crosse) walked. The pair scored when Jon Kroening (Sr, Ladysmith) reached on an error.

The Blue Devils added two more runs in the second when they loaded the bases and Nick Ziegler (So, Plymouth, Minn) drew a walk to drive in a run. Kroening was hit by a pitch to bring in the second run.

After retiring the first three Bulldog batters of the game, the bottom fell out for the Stout pitching. Jon Krog led off the second with a home run and bleeding didn't stop until seven runs - five unearned - crossed the plate.

Texas Lutheran (11-1) scored two more runs in the fourth, four more in the sixth and two in the seventh to end the game. Stout's final run came in the fifth when Luke Schultz (Fr, Menomonie) singled in Jim Foreman (Sr, Apple Valley, Minn), who led off the inning with a walk.

After tallying 10 hits the day before in Stout's opener against the same team, Stout could manage only four hits, two by Endreas. The Bulldogs pounded out 16 hits, including two home runs by Krog and three by Chris Dusablon.

March 8, 2004

SEGUIN, Texas - UW-Stout played uphill all afternoon in their baseball season opener before dropping an 8-5 decision at Texas Lutheran University, Monday, March 8 in Seguin, Texas.

The Bulldogs (10-1) got to Blue Devil starting pitcher Matt Christman (So, South Milwaukee) for three runs in the first inning.

Stout (0-1) battled back with a run in the third off a Greg Meinertz (Jr, La Crosse) single, then tacked on two runs when Corey Endreas (Sr, Spencer) singled home Jon Kroening (Sr, Ladysmith) and Jason Kuehn (Jr, Augusta), who led off with back-to-back singles.

The Blue Devils took the lead ˆ their only lead of the game ˆ in the fifth inning when Todd Brunclik (So, Rice Lake) scored on a balk, for a 4-3 lead.

Texas Lutheran knotted the score when Tim Beecham doubled in a run. The Bulldogs took the lead for good with a ground out scoring a run in the seventh inning. Lutheran added two more runs in the eighth on a two-run single by Aaron Crais. The home team scored an unearned run in the eighth for an 8-4 lead.

Stout added their final run in the top of the ninth when pinch hitter Tim Nielson (So, Rosemount, Minn) drove in Nick Ziegler (So, Plymouth, Minn).

The Blue Devils outhit the Bulldogs, 10-7, with Meinertz, Kroening and Kuehn each going 2-for-4 and Endreas 2-for-3.

Christman struck out four in working four innings, but dropped out of the decision. Joe Huiting (Sr, Little Chute) was saddled with the loss, despite giving up no hits, but an earned run in the sixth. Jeff Paras got the win for the Bulldogs, striking out six in 5.2 innings of relief.

March 15, 2004

Women's Track & Field

March 13, 2004

Verdegan, who entered the event as the second seed, topped the field with a fieldhouse record jump of 39-feet, 7-inches. Verdegan edged out second place finisher Doreen Nagwa of Wilmington, Del, College, by two inches (39-5). Top seeded Darcell Edwards of McMurry University was third (39-0.50).

The win was Verdegan's first national title and her sixth All-America award. This is her third indoor triple jump All-America award, having placed fourth last year and third in 2002. The top eight places receive All-America recognition. Yesterday, she finished fourth in the long jump.

Ann Schachtner (Jr, Somerset) also competed Saturday, placing 14th in the shot put with a throw of 41-6. Schachtner scratched on her first two throws.

As a team, Stout placed fifth with 21 points, the highest finish at a national meet by a Blue Devil women's track team.

March 12, 2004

Schachtner threw the weight 57-feet, 5.5-inches and finished behind UW-Oshkosh's Robyn Jarocki, who recorded an NCAA Division III championship mark of 60-3.75. Kelly Godsey of Bates College was second (59-4). Jarocki won the WIAC title last week where Schachtner finished second. This was Schachtner's first trip to the national meet, after qualifying with a school record toss of 57-8.50.

March 12, 2004