Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short As Spartans Sweep Warriors

AURORA, Ill. - The Wisconsin Lutheran College baseball team nearly pulled off an improbable comeback in game one, but host Auora held on for a 7-6 win before coming away with an 8-3 victory in the nightcap to send the Warriors to their fifth straight defeat.

THE BASICS

• Final Scores: Aurora 7, Wisconsin Lutheran 6; Aurora 8, Wisconsin Lutheran 3
• Records: Wisconsin Lutheran (15-12, 4-8 NACC), Aurora (18-13, 7-7 NACC)
• Location: Solfisburg Park, Aurora, Ill. | Attendance: 72

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• Aurora broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with three runs on four hits. 
• The Spartans followed with another in the fifth and three more runs in the seventh for a 7-0 cushion.
• WLC didn't go down without hard-fought comeback as it plated six runs in its last at-bat on seven hits. 
• The Warriors' scoring came from single RBIs each from Brett Youngbeck (Brown Deer, Wis./Brown Deer), Brandon Mantz (West Bend, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran), Zack Skog (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire), and Connor Vredeveld (Waterloo, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran), and two RBIs from Aaron Roeseler (Watertown, Wis./Luther Preparatory). 
• The game ended with the tying run on second after Sam Mattheis' (Rosendale, Wis./Laconia) rocket to center was caught for the final out. It was Mattheis' second at-bat of the inning.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• Jake Grollo (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) began the scoring for the Warriors in game two with a single in the second inning that scored Mantz.
• AU got that run back in the second by scoring off a passed ball.
• Mantz scored again in the fourth off of a sacrifice bunt from Youngbeck.
• The Spartans took the lead for good in the fourth with three more runs on just two hits.
• Aurora plated two more runs in the fifth, and one more run in both the seventh and eighth innings.
• Grollo had his second RBI in the ninth, a single that plated Roeseler, to end the scoring at 8-3.

QUICK HITS

• Connor Vredeveld paced the Warriors with three hits in game one. WLC also had Mattheis, Brock Vredeveld (Waterloo, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran), and Mantz for two hits each.
• Joey Hodkiewicz (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) suffered his first loss of the year in game one on 6.2 innings pitched, allowing seven runs on 11 hits with one strikeout.
• Ryan Rybakowski led the way for Aurora with two RBIs in the first game. Adam Lipscomb had three hits and scored twice.
• Colin Hart was the winner for AU in game one, going 8.2 innings and giving up five runs (three earned).
• The Warriors got two hits each from Brock Vredeveld, Mantz, Roeseler, and Grollo in the second game. Grollo accounted for two RBIs for the Warriors and Youngbeck accounted for the other.
• Jaime Paumen (Glencoe, Minn./Silver-Lake) took the game two loss for the Warriors, allowing 10 hits and seven runs with a pair of strikeouts.
• Mike Cherven had two RBIs on two hits and one run for Aurora in game two to lead the Spartans.
• Cody Love won his fifth game of the season after scattering nine hits and letting in just three runs.

UP NEXT

• Wisconsin Lutheran returns to conference action again tomorrow for a 12 p.m. doubleheader at Neumann Family Field against Edgewood (13-13, 8-4 NACC).