A History of Badger Baseball by Steven D. Schmitt

Author:Steven D. Schmitt [Schmitt, Steven D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780299312787
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press

The 1985 squad had plenty of offense but the league’s worst pitching. Armentrout set school records for at-bats (193), runs (61), and hits (76), and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors with a .464 average and a perfect fielding percentage. Eichorst set career marks in runs batted in (59) and total bases (116) and twice hit two home runs in a game. The Badgers set team records in runs scored, runs batted in, walks, and total bases. On the mound, Hestnes was the only UW pitcher in the top ten, but there was one bright spot: on April 17 at Guy Lowman Field, sophomore Bob Eckl of Barrington, Illinois, pitched the fifth no-hitter in Wisconsin history, beating Concordia University, 18–0.16

When the 1986 season began, it became clear that a boost in support from the athletic department was paying off. Additional scholarships went to two of the finest pitchers in Wisconsin history. Tom Fischer, a left-hander from West Bend in southeastern Wisconsin, made all-conference at Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School; he once struck out twenty batters in one game and hit four home runs in the same doubleheader against Wayland Academy. Scouts told Fischer he was too slow to be a position player, but the Badgers offered him a scholarship and the 5′11″, 180-lb. Fischer became a starting pitcher. “Go hard or go home,” his father, Tom Sr. told him. Fischer was all business. When reporters asked him about giving up runs, he said, “I don’t care. I won.” Fischer led the 1986 Badgers in games started and earned run average.17

Lance Painter was born in Bedford, England; the family moved to the United States within two months, but Painter did not become an American citizen until he was twenty-five. He got into baseball as a seven year old while living in the greater Milwaukee area. A left-handed pitcher at Nicolet High School, Painter won nineteen of twenty-one decisions in his final two seasons, pitching a no-hitter his senior year (with Land in attendance) and a perfect game in the WIAA State Tournament semifinals against Amery. Painter captained former Badger Dick Huxtable’s squad, hitting better than .400 in the cleanup spot and playing outfield or first base when he was not pitching. He toured the UW campus with Badger Mike Larson in the winter of 1985, enrolled that fall, and received a $1,000 grant. Painter—a “strike-thrower” with a sharp breaking pitch and who rarely threw faster than eighty-five miles an hour—led the staff with eight victories.18

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