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Off to a good start

JANESVILLE — This is a pivotal week in Big Eight Conference baseball.

All 10 schools are scheduled to play three games in five days, which places a premium on pitching.

Brett Fredricks got the week off to a great start for Janesville Craig.

Fredricks allowed only two hits in six-plus innings of work, and Mike Davis earned the save in a scoreless seventh as the Cougars rallied to beat Madison Memorial, 2-1, here at Riverside Park on Tuesday.

Craig High (5-1, 2-1) trailed 1-0 in the sixth, but strung together three straight hits and a costly Memorial throwing error to push across two runs.

“Our top three guys in the order came through in the sixth after struggling a little bit earlier,” Craig High coach Vic Herbst said. “And as well as Brett threw for us, he deserved to win.

“This is a huge week for our baseball team. With three games this week, it could be a big position mover for a lot of teams, so starting out with a win over a good Memorial team is big.”

The Cougars nearly came away empty-handed. The Spartans (3-2, 1-2) scored a run in the top of the first on Pat Ritchie’s RBI double, and then rode the arm of Keith Behrend. The right-hander kept the Cougars off balance through the first five innings, allowing no runs on only three hits.

But with the top of the order coming up in the sixth, the Cougars responded. Christian DeCremer, who had two of Craig’s six hits, singled with one out. Fredricks followed with a single to left to put runners at first and second. Zach Bayreuther followed with an RBI single to right to score DeCremer, and courtesy-runner Cameron Graves raced home on a throwing error when Ritchie overthrew the bag at second trying to nab Bayreuther.

“In a close game like this where both pitchers were on, you have to take advantage of any opportunity you get,” Herbst said. “We were able to do that because we were aggressive on the base paths.

“We had our best defensive game of the season, and our pitching kept us in the game until our bats finally came alive.”

Fredricks, who struck out seven, was lifted in the seventh after issuing a leadoff walk. Davis came on and retired all three batters he faced to secure the victory.

Craig is at Middleton this afternoon before hosting Janesville Parker on Friday.

CRAIG 2, MEMORIAL 1

Memorial (ab-r-h-rbi)—Fruhling, lf, 3-0-0-0; Luciani, ss, 3-0-0-0; Curtin, cf, 2-1-1-0; Ritchie, c, 3-0-1-1; Borowski, cr, 0-0-0-0; Wise, dh, 2-0-0-0; Behrend, p, 0-0-0-0; Schneider, rf, 0-0-0-0; Eichorst, 3b, 2-0-0-0; Pokriefke, 2-0-0-0; Luek, cr, 0-0-0-0; Schiro, 1b, 3-0-0-0. Totals: 20-1-2-1.

Craig (ab-r-h-rbi)—DeCremer, cf, 3-1-2-0; B. Fredricks, p, 3-0-1-0; Graves, cr, 0-1-0-0; Davis, p, 0-0-0-0; Bayreuther, ss, 3-0-1-1; Grall, 1b, 2-0-0-0; A. Fredricks, pr, 0-0-0-0; Whalen, 3b, 3-0-0-0; Geller, 2b, 2-0-1-0; Meyer, c, 2-0-0-0; Olin, dh, 2-0-0-0; Wright, rf, 0-0-0-0; Weber, lf, 2-0-1-0. Totals: 22-2-6-1.

Madison Memorial 100 000 0—1

Janesville Craig 000 002 x—2

E—Memorial 1. LOB—Memorial 5, Craig 3. DP—Memorial 1. SAC—Eichorst. SB—Schneider 2, Curtin, Pokriefke, DeCremer, Bayreuther. 2B—Ricthie.

IP H R ER BB SO

Memorial

Behrend (L) 6 6 2 1 0 5

Craig

B. Fredricks (W) 6 2 1 1 6 7

Davis (S) 1 0 0 0 0 1

Big Eight baseball

W L

Middleton 3 0

Janesville Craig 2 1

Sun Prairie 2 1

Beloit Memorial 2 1

Madison East 2 1

Janesville Parker 1 1

Madison Memorial 1 2

Madison La Follette 1 2

Madison West 0 2

Verona 0 3

RESULTS TUESDAY

Janesville Craig 2, Madison Memorial 1

Middleton 11, Sun Prairie 0

Beloit Memorial 5, Madison La Follette 3

Madison East 11, Verona 4

GAMES TODAY

Sun Prairie at Janesville Parker

Janesville Craig at Middleton

Madison La Follette at Madison Memorial

Madison West at Beloit Memorial

GAMES THURSDAY

Janesville Parker at Verona

Madison East at Madison West

GAMES FRIDAY

Janesville Parker at Janesville Craig, 5 p.m.

Beloit Memorail at Madison Memorial

Madison East at Sun Prairie

Madison West at Verona

Middleton at Madison La Follette