Softball Preview: Blue Devils in hunt for WIAC berth, at Point Saturday

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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (14-18, 4-8 WIAC) are currently in fifth place and are one of four teams seeking that final WIAC playoff berth. Stout will be at UW-Stevens Point (12-20, 3-8 WIAC), another team seeking the final spot, Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m. Stout returns home to host Bethel University (16-16, 11-7 MIAC), Sunday, May 1, for a 1 p.m. Senior Day start. The Bethel/Stout games will be available via Live Stats and in a live video stream.

WIAC FIGHT: Berths for the conference tournament are on the line during the final weekend of the season. UW-Oshkosh, UW-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse have wrapped up berths, but the seeding is yet to be determined. Oshkosh is at Eau Claire Saturday, while Whitewater is at La Crosse. Stout (4-8), Stevens Point (3-8), UW-River Falls (3-8-1) and UW-Platteville (1-9) all are fighting for that fifth and final spot. Platteville has four games remaining, two against UW-Oshkosh Friday, then will be at River Falls Saturday. One loss will knock the Pioneers out of contention. The Blue Devils are currently in fifth place and can take any doubt away of who gets in by sweeping the Pointers. A split with the Pointers and possible tie-breakers come into play. The River Falls tie with UW-Eau Claire and the cancellation of Stevens Point's second game with Whitewater Wednesday throws a twist into the ease of the tie-breakers.

SENIORS: Sunday is Senior Day and the Blue Devils will recognize their five seniors - Sara Griesbach, Gabby Gawreluk, Karley Wiensch, Nicole Rogers and Tori Workman.

UW-STOUT: Rachel Thomas leads the Blue Devils at the plate, hitting .371 (39-105) with 10 RBI, two home runs and is second in the WIAC in triples with four. Thomas has a team-best eight stolen bases. Pitcher/first baseman/designate player Beth Wood is hitting .327 (32-98) with 16 RBI and a home run. Heather Bol matches Wood in RBI, driving in 16 runs with an average of .301 (28-93). Freshmen Alicia Meyer and Kaylee Francois have found ways to drive in runs, with Meyer recording qq RBI and Francois 14. Meyer has a team-best three home runs and is hitting .320 (1-50), while Francois is .302 (20-66). Two-time first team all-WIAC pitcher Tori Workman continues to deal, rolling up 87 strikeouts over 112.1 innings pitched, second in the conference in innings pitched and third in strikeouts. Workman owns the Blue Devil career strikeout record and continues to add to it. currently recording 484 strikeouts. Workman recently recorded her 54th career win, surpassing the mark of 53 held by Karen Lien and Carolyn Bare. This season, Workman has recorded two saves, running her career total to six, tying the school career record set by Megan Donley. Wood and McKayla Brunner have seen considerable time in the circle. Wood has started 12 games while Brunner has made five starts and eight appearances. | 2016 Statistics

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils lost at UW-Eau Claire Wednesday, falling in the first game 9-3, then waiting out a rain delay of more than an hour before getting nicked, 5-4, in the nightcap. With the score tied, Stout had the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, but couldn't get anyone across the plate. The Blugolds manufactured a run, getting the game-winner on a sacrifice fly.  Stout was scheduled to play at Gustavus Adolphus Thursday, but that game was cancelled due to weather. The Blue Devils split a pair of doubleheaders last week, losing to the University of Northwestern, 5-4 in eight innings, then taking a 3-2 decision over the Eagles, April 20. Stout defeated conference for UW-River Falls, 4-1, in the first game where Tori Workman broke the school record for most career wins, but then lost the second, 8-4, 8-4, April 21. |  UW-Eau Claire Game Story and Statistics | UW-River Falls Game Story and Statistics | Northwestern Game Story and Statistics


WIAC PRESEASON POLL The Blue Devils were selected to finish fifth, accoring to a WIAC preseason poll. UW-Whitewater was picked first, followed by UW-Oshkosh, UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse. UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Platteville were chosen sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

RECORD BEATER: When UW-Stout collected 25 runs in a 25-0 win over Southern Vermont University, March 15, it established a school record for most runs scored in a single game. The Blue Devils scored 11 runs in the first inning alone. Stout finished the game with 13 hits, but only three hits were extra base hits, with a double by Alicia Meyer and triples by Sara Griesbach and Kelly Austin. Stout drew nine walks in the contest and twice Blue Devil batters were hit by a pitch. The previous record was 20 runs scored against Wisconsin Lutheran in 2000. Austin is thought to have tied a school record when she scored four runs against Southern Vermont.

WORKMAN WORKING THE Ks: Pitcher Tori Workman holds the school record for most strikeouts in a single season (160) and this season set the school record for most career strikeouts, surpassing Karen Lien's 409 strikeouts. Lien, a Blue Devil Hall of Fame member, pitched from 1992-95. Workman currently has 484 career strikeouts and moved up to seventh on the WIAC career strikeout list, moving past UW-La Crosse's Sally Wenzel (432 - 2000-03). Karen Guckenburg (504 - 2000-03) of UW-Stevens Point is sixth on the list. Ronessa Stampfli (2005-08) of UW-Oshkosh has a firm grip on the WIAC career record with 1019 strikeouts. Workman also moved onto the WIAC list for most innings pitched. Workman is seventh overall in the WIAC with 602.1 innings pitched. Workman just moved past Lien and Carolyn Bare for the most UW-Stout wins by a pitcher. Lien and Bare (1995-98) both have 53 wins. Workman has seven wins this season to move her total to 54 career wins. Workman is third on the UW-Stout all-time list for innings pitched. Lien threw 660.0 innings throughout her career and Megan Donley threw 631.1 innings.

TRIPLE TIME: The Blue Devils have put up 10 triples so far this year, with Rachel Thomas the conference leaders with four. Kaylee Francois has two, while Kelly Austin, Tori Workman, Sara Griesbach and Alyssa Germscheid each have one.


UW-STEVENS POINT: Bailie Sheehan tops the Pointers in average, hitting .366 (37-101), matching Paige Kitzing in RBI with 15. Sheehan has three home runs, while Kitzing has two. Also hitting .300 or better are Alyssa Cooper (.364, 28-77, 14 RBI), Cori Semler (.333, 10-30), Averi Kunyuh (.314, 11-35,  and Katie Uhlenbrock (.303, 20-66, 14 RBI). Morgan Johnson has driven in 13 runs and Jen Jacobson 10. In the circle, Amelia Heup, Kunyuh and Maddie Durie have seen the most time. Heup has started a team-high 14 games and has made 19 appearances over 63.0 innings. She has recorded 18 strikeouts and has an ERA of 4.22. Durie has made 27 appearances, best in the WIAC, and has a team-best 30 strikeouts over 80 innings pitched. Kunyuh has made 18 appearances over 39.0 innings and has 18 strikeouts.  | 2016 Statistics

POINTERS LAST TIME OUT: Coming off an 11-3, 10-2, non-conference sweep over St. Norbert Tuesday, the Pointers were only able to get one half of their league doubleheader in with UW-Whitewater Wednesday due to weather. Whitewater got off to a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Pointers matched the Warhawks in the top of the second before Whitewater ripped off six runs in the bottom of the second on their way to a 12-4 six inning contest. Game two got as far as the fourth inning before rain wiped it out of the book. The Pointers are coming off a 7-8, 4-2, sweep of UW-Platteville over the weekend and will host St. Norbert, Tuesday, April 26, and travel to UW-Whitewater, Wednesday, April 27 before hosting UW-Stout. | Whitewater Game Story and Statistics | St. Norbert Game Story and Statistics

LAST TIME THEY MET: UW-Stout scored five runs in the first inning of the opener on their way to a 6-2 win and Abbey Ball picked up the win in long relief and scored what would prove to be the game-winning run as the Blue Devils swept the series with UW-Stevens Point with a 2-1 second game win April 18, 2015, at Alumni Field. | Game Story and Statistics


BETHEL UNIVERSITY: The Royals, the defending MIAC champions, are currently fifth in the MIAC as of April 29. Bethel has been a major purveyor of the long ball, cracking out 23 home runs this season, led by Carolyn Kivisto's seven. Micayla Moore has five and Anna Nichols three. Eight players have at least one home run this season. Kivisto has a school record 30 home runs for her career. The Royals average just over one stolen base per game and don't get thrown out very often, stealing 37 bases in 40 attempts. Lindsey Edeen and Karli Persson have been the Royals' primary hurlers, and both tend to start what they finish. Edeen has started 13 games and has completed 12 games, while Persson has started 16 games and completed 13. Persson has throw 109 innings with 79 strikeouts and Edeen 98 innings with 61 strikeouts.  | 2016 Statistics

ROYALS LAST TIME OUT: The Royals last played Saturday, April 23, dropping a conference twinbill to Carleton College, 4-3, 3-1. A date with Buena Vista, Wednesday, April 27, was cancelled. Bethel travels across town to St. Thomas, Saturday, April 30, before coming to Menomonie. | Carleton Game Story and Statistics

LAST TIME THEY MET: Tori Workman struck out seven and UW-Stout used a fiverun sixth inning to finish off Bethel University, in a 7-1 first game win over the Royals Feb. 21, 2015,at the Irish Sports Dome in a midnight classic. Bethel came back to take the second game, 8-3. With the first pitch of the first game slated for 11 p.m. and the outdoor temperature at minus-two degrees, the contests were sure to be for the hardy fan who stuck around until the doubleheader concluded at approximately 3:15 a.m. | Game Story and Statistics


NFCA RANKINGS: No WIAC schools were listed in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 poll. UW-Oshkosh is receiving votes. | NFCA Top 25 poll

BLUE DEVILS LAST SEASON: The Blue Devils were 16-27 overall and 7-9 in league play. The Blue Devils advanced to the WIAC tournament and knocked off second seeded UW-Whitewater in the first game of the tournament. | 2015 Statistics

AWARDS AND HONORS: Tori Workman was selected the UW-Stout/Northwestern Athlete of the Week, April 26, after notching her school record 54th career win...Tori Workman was the WIAC pitcher of the week after allowing no earned runs in a loss to St. Benedict to open the season and after seeing action in the circle in seven of UW-Stout's final 10 games at the Fastpitch Dreams Softball Classic in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. She started four games in South Carolina, finishing with an ERA of 1.28 and a record of 3-2....Tori Workman was a first team all-WIAC selection in 2015.

2016 TEAM LEADERS: The designated team leaders for the 2016 season are Tori Workman, Nicole Rogers and McKayla Brunner.

COACHES: Blue Devil coach Becky Iaccino (32-36) is in her first year as the head coach of the Blue Devils. Iaccino played professionally in Italy from 2003 to 2011 and with the Italian National team from 2005-07. She has been the head coach at Marian University where she was selected as conference coach of the year, and has eight years of experience as an assistant coach at Division I and III programs, most recently at Concordia University Chicago.  UW-Stevens Point: Ashley Steltenpohl is in her second season as the head softball coach at UW-Stevens Point. In her first season of 2015, the Pointers went 15-24, a four-win improvement from the season before, and finished one game out of a spot in the WIAC Tournament. UW-Stevens Point was 5-11 in the WIAC, a three-game increase from 2014. Bethel University: Penny Foore is in her second year as the Royals head softball coach after leading the Royals to their first MIAC Championship in her inaugural season. A four-year standout player at Concordia University in St. Paul, she has had numerous coaching experiences at NCAA Division I, high school, and club levels.

ON DECK: The Blue Devils are looking to earn a berth into the WIAC Softball Championship, May 6-8, at a site to yet be determined.