Warriors Split Second Straight NACC Twinbill

MILWAUKEE (WLCSports.com) - Wisconsin Lutheran College split a second consecutive Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference doubleheader with Milwaukee School of Engineering on Tuesday at MSOE Raiders Field. The Warriors cruised to an 8-1 win in game one, before the Raiders recorded an 8-7 come-from-behind walk-off win in game two.

WLC (11-25, 7-13 NACC) scored first in the second inning of game one, as senior Maddy Chestolowski (Appleton, Wis.) doubled to score junior Gwen Malecke (Gilberts, Ill.). MSOE (16-20, 11-9 NACC) evened the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the third with an unearned run.

Freshman Alea Anhalt (Fond du Lac, Wis.) put Wisconsin Lutheran in front 3-1 in the fifth with a two-run homerun, her third of the season, scoring senior Lexi Martin (Westfield, Ind.). Chestolowski leadoff the sixth inning with her second homerun of the year, and Martin followed four batters later with a two-run shot, the program-record 24th of her career, for a 6-1 advantage. The Warriors plated a pair of insurance runs in the seventh, as freshman Madison Heller (South Milwaukee, Wis.) singled to score senior Ashley Corley (Plainfield, Ill.), and Chestolowski came home on a steal for an 8-1 final.

Chestolowski went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored for WLC, while Anhalt, Malecke, and Corley added two hits apiece. Both Anhalt and Martin drove in a pair of runs. Freshman Zoe Precup (Oswego, Ill.) pitched a complete game three-hitter for her second win of the season in the circle. She fanned three and walked two. 

Wisconsin Lutheran struck for five second-inning runs in game two to jump out to a comfortable lead. A two-run double from Chestolowski scored Corley and junior Allison Powers (Sun Prairie, Wis.), Chestolowski scored on an error the next at-bat, sophomore Emily Cardenas (Lake Stevens, Wash.) singled home freshman Sommer Krull (New London, Wis.), and a sacrifice fly from Anhalt brought home Heller for the 5-0 advantage.

Milwaukee School of Engineering scored its first run in the second on a RBI single, but the Warriors got that run right back in the top of the third when Chestolowski drove in Powers with a RBI groundout. The Raiders added their second run in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out RBI single, and cut the deficit in half at 6-3 in the sixth with another run-scoring single.

WLC pushed across its seventh run in the seventh on another Chestolowski RBI single that drove home Powers, and Wisconsin Lutheran held a four-run lead heading to the Raiders' last at-bat. MSOE engineered a five-run rally behind five hits in the frame, including a one-out RBI double and single, before a bases-loaded walk-off double with two outs for the 8-7 win.

Chestolowski was one of five Warriors players to post two hits in the contest, going 2-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored. Cardenas and Anhalt drove in one run each, while Powers scored three times.

WLC travels to Fond du Lac on Friday for a pivotal NACC doubleheader against Marian (14-18, 8-12 NACC). First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Smith Field. Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.