Offense Erupts For 24 Runs In Doubleheader Sweep Of Stars

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (WLCSports.com) - The Wisconsin Lutheran College baseball team combined for 24 runs on 31 hits Saturday on its way to a doubleheader sweep over NACC opponent Dominican at Boomers Stadium. The Warriors won the opener, 14-1, in eight innings, before holding off a late Stars rally for a 10-7 win in game two. It was WLC's first sweep of DU since the 2011 season.

THE BASICS

• Final Scores: Wisconsin Lutheran 14, Dominican 1; Wisconsin Lutheran 10, Dominican 7
• Records: Wisconsin Lutheran (8-16, 5-5 NACC), Dominican (10-16, 1-11 NACC)
• Location: Boomers Stadium, Schaumburg, Ill.

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Warriors started out hot, scoring two runs in the first inning on a throwing error and a Ryan Michael (Racine, Wis.) RBI single to left field.
• Dominican threatened in the third inning, but Dylan Knoespel (Brillion, Wis.) was able to get out of a bases loaded jam on a groundout to third baseman Jake Wiedower (St. Francis, Wis.).
• WLC blew the game wide open in the sixth inning, scoring six runs off four hits. Johnny Offenbacher (Waukesha, Wis.) and Brett Jakel (Reeseville, Wis.) both had two-RBI singles, and Brannigan Hart (Davie, Fla.) hit a sacrifice fly to center.
• The Stars plated their first run of the game in the home half of the inning off a sacrifice fly to right.
• The Warriors scored another six runs in the eighth inning. KJ Banse (Racine, Wis.) and Joe Hanson (La Crosse, Wis.) each had two-RBI singles, and Michael had an RBI single to right field.
• Knoespel worked around three walks to earn his third victory of the season. He gave up just two hits and fanned two in 7.0 innings of work.
• The Warriors erupted for 12 hits in the first game. Kasey Zdroik (Plainfield, Wis.), Banse, and Michael tallied two hits apiece.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• Once again, the Warriors came out of the nightcap strong, scoring two runs in the first inning on RBI singles by Jakel and Zdroik.
• In the second inning, Brock Vredeveld (Waterloo, Wis.) hit a double in the left field gap and scored on another RBI single by Jakel.
• WLC plated three more runs in the third inning on RBI singles from Hanson and Sid Lehman (Theresa, Wis.), and a sacrifice fly to left by Vredeveld.
• Dominican got one run back in the third, but the Warriors scored two more in the fifth on RBI singles by Vredeveld and Wiedower.
• The Stars scored two runs in their half of the fifth, making the score 9-3.
• Jakel continued to hit the ball in the seventh inning, scoring Lehman on an RBI single to left.
• The Stars scored four more runs in the eighth and threatened with bases loaded in the ninth, but Jacob Smrz (Milwaukee, Wis.) slammed the door giving the Warriors the sweep.
• Spencer Michaelis (Wauwatosa, Wis.) earned the win in relief of starter Jake Constien (Sun Prairie, Wis.). He tossed 2.2 innings of one-hit shutout ball.
• Jakel, Wiedower, and Vredeveld had three hits each to lead the Warriors to a season-high 19 hits.

FOR THE FOES

• Tyler Brown suffered the loss in game one, as he allowed six runs on five hits while striking out two and walking three.
• Colin Janison finished 3-for-6 for Dominican in game two. George Sherman took the loss, pitching just 2.0 innings and allowing six runs on nine hits.

UP NEXT

• The Warriors will play a NACC home doubleheader at Kapco Park in Mequon against rival Concordia Wisconsin (14-11, 4-5 NACC) tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. The doubleheader was moved from Neumann Family Field due to field conditions. Live stats and video will be available for both games at WLCSports.com.