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Box Score 2 LOVES PARK, Ill. - Bolstered by solid pitching performances from starters Josh Ruppel (Belgium, Wis./Cedar Grove-Belgium) and Jaime Paumen (Glencoe, Minn./Silver-Lake), the Wisconsin Lutheran College baseball team swept Rockford Sunday afternoon at Aviators Stadium. The Warriors earned their first-ever sweep over the Regents since joining the NACC in 2007 as they won by scores of 11-3 and 6-3.
Brett Youngbeck (Brown Deer, Wis./Brown Deer) put the Warriors on the scoreboard in the first inning of the opener with his two-run double that plated Sam Mattheis (Rosendale, Wis./Laconia) and Garrick Day (Elk Mound, Wis./Elk Mound). Following single tallies from the Regents in the third and fifth that knotted the score at 2-2, WLC broke the game open with a five-run sixth inning.
Connor Vredeveld (Waterloo, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran), Mattheis, and Youngbeck each recorded run-scoring singles in the frame, with Mattheis and Youngbeck's being the two-RBI variety. The Regents' final run of the game followed in the sixth on an RBI double, but the Warriors still had plenty of offensive punch left in them.
In the eighth, Jake Klemme (Plymouth, Wis./Plymouth) delivered with a two-run single and Vredeveld drew a bases loaded walk for a 10-3 lead. The Warriors scored their final run in the ninth on a Ryan Stancl (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) RBI single that plated Aaron Roeseler (Watertown, Wis./Luther Preparatory).
Day and Stancl each went 3-for-5 to lead the Warriors' 15-hit parade. Youngbeck added four RBI and drew three walks. Four players scored two runs each. Ruppel improved to 3-1 on the season after allowing three runs on just four hits in 6.0 innings of work. Joey Hodkiewicz (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) pitched the final 3.0 scoreless innings and struckout three to earn the save.
Brian Wiest was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Regents. Kaleb Rich allowed seven runs on nine hits over 5.2 innings to take the loss.
WLC once again jumped out ahead first in game two as Mattheis' sacrifice fly plated Day in the first. The Warriors played small ball as they took the lead without a hit in the first inning. Rockford tied the game at 1-1 in the second behind a fielder's choice RBI.
Wisconsin Lutheran regained the lead in the third on a successful steal of home from Day. Roeseler made the score 3-1 in the fourth on a RBI single that plated Klemme. The Warriors continued to add tallies to their side of the ledger in the sixth when Vredeveld scored after Mattheis reached safely on an error by the third baseman. Vredeveld made it 5-1 in the seventh when his fielder's choice scored Stancl from third.
RU capitalized on a fielding error in the bottom of the seventh to score twice, cutting its deficit to just 5-3. The Warriors tacked on an important insurance run in the eighth when Mattheis scored from third as Brandon Mantz (West Bend, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) prolonged the rundown of his eventual caught stealing attempt.
Alex Raver (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) pitched the final 2.0 innings of scoreless relief to earn the save for Paumen. In 7.0 innings on the mound, Paumen allowed just three runs, one earned, on seven hits. He struckout four and didn't walk a batter.
Jake Grollo (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) went 3-for-4 for the Warriors, while Day scored two times and drew two walks.
Chris Holke and Cole Logemann each went 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Regents (9-9, 1-5 NACC). Jacob Gorsuch gave up four runs, two earned, in 5.0 innings to suffer the loss on the bump.
The Warriors (12-7, 4-2 NACC) host Carroll (6-8) in a 3 p.m. non-conference game Tuesday at Neumann Family Field.
