MILWAUKEE - The Wisconsin Lutheran College baseball team suffered a heartbreaking 5-4 extra-inning loss before salvaging a 2-1 victory in game two of a doubleheader against MSOE Saturday at Neumann Family Fields to remain in the hunt for a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament berth.
Both starting pitchers refused to yield any offense in game one, resulting in a 0-0 deadlock for most of the game. The Warriors were first to crack through the stalemate, as Zack Skog (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) grounded out with the bases loaded to bring home Aaron Roeseler (Watertown, Wis./Luther Preparatory) in the top of the eighth. The Raiders promptly tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with a run of their own.
Unable to find their offensive grooves in the first nine frames, both teams started clicking offensively in extra frames. WLC got things going first in the 10th, as Sam Mattheis (Rosendale, Wis./Laconia) took advantage of a MSOE error to cross home. Jake Klemme (Plymouth, Wis./Plymouth) capped off the inning with a two-run single that plated Skog and Brandon Mantz (West Bend, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) for the 4-1 lead.
The Raiders were once again able to mirror the Warriors' offensive production, scoring three times in the bottom of the 10th to tie the game at 4-4. MSOE claimed its first lead of the game in the 11th courtesy of a walk-off sacrifice fly with the bases loaded that put the final at 5-4.
Starter Jaime Paumen (Glencoe, Minn./Silver-Lake) battled through 9.1 innings, giving up just four hits and one earned run, adding two strikeouts. Mantz suffered the loss, giving up one earned run in 0.2 innings. Klemme went 1-for-5 with two RBI, while Roeseler and Matt Wick (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) each had two hits.
Brandon McCumber evened his record at 3-3 after providing 3.0 innings of relief in which he did not allow an earned run. Wes Stasik finished 1-for-3 with two RBI for the Raiders.
WLC struck first in game two, taking a 1-0 lead following a Skog RBI single in the top of the second. Starter Garrick Day (Elk Mound, Wis./Elk Mound) clamped down on MSOE, keeping the Warriors clinging to their one-run lead heading into the seventh. Skog gave WLC a little extra breathing room, scampering home on a wild pitch to make the score 2-0.
The Raiders broke through for the first time in the eighth, sneaking an unearned run across to trail 2-1. Day sent the first three MSOE batters back to the bench in order in the ninth to seal the 2-1 victory. He moved to 4-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 0.55 following a complete-game, zero-earned run, seven-hit, five-strikeout performance. Skog led the charge going 3-for-4 with a run and RBI.
Adam Vlaj struck out eight but allowed two runs in 9.0 innings to take the loss. Stasik scored the lone run of the game for the Raiders as he finished 2-for-3.
The Warriors (16-15, 7-9 NACC) host conference foe Concordia Wisconsin (16-14, 8-8 NACC) in a 1 p.m. doubleheader Sunday at Neumann Family Fields.
