Baseball Splits NACC Series With Sabres

MILWAUKEE - The Wisconsin Lutheran College baseball team overcame a five-run deficit to win game one 7-5 but its rally came up just short in game two falling 8-6 as the Warriors split a NACC doubleheader with Marian on Monday at Neumann Family Field.

THE BASICS

• Final Scores: Wisconsin Lutheran 7, Marian 5; Marian 8, Wisconsin Lutheran 6
• Records: Wisconsin Lutheran (14-20, 6-10 NACC), Marian (9-27, 1-17 NACC)
• Location: Neumann Family Field, Milwaukee, Wis. | Attendance: 53

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Warriors found themselves in an early hole in game one, as the Sabres scored five times on just four hits over the first two innings.
• WLC tallied its first run in the second when Jake Grollo (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) scored off a fielding error from the bat of Matt Wick (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett).
• Wisconsin Lutheran knotted the score at 5-5 in the third on a trio of run-scoring hits from Grollo, Ryan Stancl (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin), and Jake Schwall (West Allis, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran).
• Curtis Engelbrecht (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./Northland Lutheran) gave the Warriors a 6-5 lead in the fifth when he scored on a Sabres fielding error off the bat of Brock Vredeveld (Waterloo, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran).
• Marian threatened in the seventh, but left two runners in scoring position. WLC added an insurance run in its half of the seventh on a two-out RBI single from Vredeveld that plated Engelbrecht.
• Noah Schriefer (San Diego, Calif./California Lutheran) came on for the save with one out in the ninth and induced a double play to end the game.
• Brett Jakel (Reeseville, Wis./Waterloo), Engelbrecht, Grollo, and Schwall each had two hits in the game for the Warriors. Kyle Baron (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) improved to 3-2 on the season after throwing 8.1 innings He allowed four earned runs and struck out five.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Sabres scored unearned runs in the second and third for a 2-0 lead and added another in the fifth to go ahead 3-0.
• The Warriors loaded the bases with no one out in the fifth and scored one run on a Colton Tisch (Genoa City, Wis./Badger) RBI fielder's choice.
• Marian added three runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth for a commanding 8-1 lead.
• WLC battled back in the eighth with five runs on three hits to come within two runs. Grollo, Joe Hanson (La Crosse, Wis./Logan), and Stancl each had RBI hits with two outs for WLC in the frame.
• After escaping a bases-loaded jam with no one out in the ninth, the Warriors left the tying run at the plate when the game came to an end.
• Grollo and Hanson collected two hits each for the Warriors. Vredeveld scored twice and Stancl had two RBIs.
• Sid Lehman (Theresa, Wis./Mayville) suffered the loss for the Warriors, giving up five runs on five hits in 6.0 innings.

FOR THE FOES

• Adam Ryan, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, was one of four players to record two hits in the opener for the Sabres.
• Jordan Bock suffered the loss after allowing two runs in 5.1 innings of relief for starter Kellen Shea, who lasted just 2.2 innings.
• Earl Vorpagel was 4-for-4 with three runs scored and Eddie Spies had two hits, two runs, and four RBIs for Marian in game two.
• Austin Hansen allowed just one earned run in 7.2 innings to earn the win on the mound. Sam Long picked up his first save of the season, tossing the final 1.1 innings.

UP NEXT

• Wisconsin Lutheran is right back in action tomorrow when it travels to Verona for a 3:00 p.m. NACC doubleheader against Edgewood (13-18, 9-7 NACC). The Eagles were last swept by Aurora on Sunday. Live stats and video will be available for both games at WLCSports.com.