The Upsala Blue Jays played a pair of league games this past weekend.  On Friday evening the Jays played a make-up game against the St. Stephen Steves.  The game was played under the lights in Freeport.  Pitching for Upsala was Eric Lampert, while St. Stephen countered with veteran left-hander Nick Krippner.  Both pitchers pitched well, as St. Stephen went on to win a pitchers duel by a 3-1 score.  After 3 1/2 scoreless innings, St. Stephen would take a 1-0 lead in the top of the 4th on a Brandon Waldvogel fielders choice.  Upsala would tie the game in the bottom of the 4th on a two out RBI single by Eric Lampert.  However, St. Stephen would respond in the 5th, scoring 2 times via RBI singles by Blake Guggenberger and Tony Schmitz.  That was more than enough run support for Krippner, as he allowed just the 1 run over 8 solid innings.  The Jays were only able to mount 4 hits together.  Ben Omann led all hitters with 3 hits for St. Stephen.  The loss dropped Upsala to 7-1 in league play (7-4 overall).

On Sunday, the Jays traveled to Sobieski to take on the Sobieski skis in a huge Victory League West division matchup.  The Skis entered the game with a record of 7-0, while the Jays were 1/2 game back in the standings with a record of 7-1.  Two of the most established pitchers in the Victory League faced off, as Matt Swanson received the start for Upsala while Sobieski countered with Tyler Jendro.  Upsala took a 1-0 lead in the 4th inning on an RBI single by Dustin Biniek.  Sobieski quickly responded, scoring 4 times in the bottom of the 4th to take a 4-1 lead.  Highlighting the inning was a 2 run homer to right by Thomas Miller.  Sobieski would tack on 2 more insurance runs later in the game, one of which was a solo homer off the bat of Collin Eckman.  Upsala was unable to put together any kind of serious threat against Jendro, and fell by a 6-1 final.  Jendro took the win for Sobieski, pitching a complete game while allowing 8 hits and striking out 6.  Swanson took the loss for Upsala, pitching 6 innings.  Brock Cichon pitched the final 2 innings for the Jays.  Brandon Welinski, Paul Krebs, and Dustin Biniek all had 2 hits for Upsala.  Beau Hanowski, Riley Hirsch, and Thomas Miller all had a pair of hits for Sobieski.  The loss dropped Upsala to 7-2 in league play, a game and a half behind Sobieski (8-0) in the division standings.

Upsala is back in action this coming weekend with a pair of league games.  On Saturday, Upsala will travel to Flensburg for a West Division match up.  The game is slated for a 1:30 start.  On Sunday, Swanville will come to Upsala to play.  Please note that this game has been changed to a 4 PM start.