Cats run streak to six

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Wildcat junior Marty Herum watches his second home run of the game clear the right field fence in the fourth inning of the Cats’ 9-5 win over New Richmond in the first game of the River Falls Triangular Tournament Saturday. The Wildcats went on to defeat Fridley, Minn., 7-1 later in the day. Bob Burrows photo

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The Wildcat baseball team ran its winning streak to six straight by winning its last four games, including a 4-2 Big Rivers Conference victory over league-leading Eau Claire North Monday in Eau Claire.

The Cats’ victory over the fourth-ranked Huskies pushed their BRC record to 3-4 while improving their overall mark to 13-5. They host ninth-ranked Chippewa Falls Thursday at 5 p.m.

Last Thursday the Cats posted an 11-0, five-inning win at Durand before winning both games at the River Falls Triangular Tournament on Saturday. The Cats topped New Richmond 9-5 in the first game before disposing of Fridley, Minn., 7-1, in the second.

During their six-game winning streak, senior Tyler Hunter is 16-for-21 at the plate while junior Marty Herum is 12-for-20 during the same stretch.

“That’s a pretty remarkable tear for any hitter at any level,” head coach Ryan Bishop pointed out.

Hunter went 3-for-4 with three runs scored in the Cats’ 11-0 win at Durand Thursday. Austin Johnson, Sam Witt and Ben Wunrow contributed two hits apiece as the Cats outhit the Panthers 13-3.

Curtis Christensen picked up the win by throwing four innings of two-hit ball while Ricky Troester allowed one hit in a scoreless fifth to close out the game.

“Our goal was to play at our level today regardless of who we were playing,” Bishop said. “The boys did that by throwing strikes, playing error free defense, and swinging the bats well.”

Hunter and Herum both went deep — Herum twice — in Saturday morning’s 9-5 win over New Richmond.

Herum hit a pair of bombs to the opposite field. The first was a two-run blast in the first inning to give the Cats a 2-0 lead while the second was a solo shot in the fourth that followed Hunter’s three-run blast to extend the Wildcat lead to 8-2.

Herum also doubled and finished with three RBI while Hunter added a double to drive in four runs in the win. Wunrow and Mark Bennett were both 2-for-4 as the Cats outhit the Tigers 11-6.

Herum pitched the first three innings to earn the win while Greg Cheever worked three innings and Johnson pitched a one-two-three seventh.

“This was an important win for seeding purposes because New Richmond is in our regional and has already beaten Eau Claire Memorial this year,” Bishop said. “Our guys came ready to play and got the job done.”

Saturday afternoon, Hunter was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI, Johnson was 2-for-4 with a run batted in, and Dylan James had a double in the Cats’ 7-1 win over Fridley.

Sophomore Jack Herum was called up from the junior varsity to start on the mound and worked six innings to earn the win, allowing one run on five hits while striking out four and walking two. Johnson again pitched a perfect seventh to close out the game.

“Jack has come up and thrown a couple of very nice games for us in the past week,” Bishop said. “He’s shown he can definitely pitch at the varsity level and we will continue counting on him to come up and do that for us.”

Monday at Eau Claire North, the Cats led 4-0 before the Huskies scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Christensen pitched six scoreless innings before allowing two Husky runs in the sixth. Johnson came on to get the last two outs and earn the save, getting the final out with the bases loaded.

“Curtis did an awesome job on the hill tonight, making the pitches he needed to and letting our defense play behind him,” Bishop said. “He has been our most consistent pitcher lately and no doubt deserved this win.”

Marty Herum was 3-for-4 with a triple and a run scored while Johnson had a double and scored a run.

“I was very proud of our guys tonight,” Bishop said. “They fought through some adversity and beat a very good team on the road.”

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