WAUWATOSA, Wis. (WLCSports.com) – Wisconsin Lutheran College suffered its first Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference sweep of the season on Tuesday, falling to surging Benedictine by scores of 21-5 in seven innings and 7-2 at Neumann Family Field.
GAME 1
After falling behind 4–0 in the top of the first, the Warriors responded quickly in the home half. Senior
Elijah Shevey (Muskego, Wis.) and sophomore
Aiden Montgomery (St. Louis, Mo.) were both hit by pitches to start the frame, and sophomore
Colt Ratliff (Oxford, Ga.) brought home Shevey with a RBI single. Sophomore
Ian Rintelman (Muskego, Wis.) added a sacrifice fly in the third, followed by a clutch RBI single from senior
Noah Zaccanti (Geneva, Ill.) and a two-run base knock from freshman
Colin Nigl (Neenah, Wis.) to tie the game 5–5. The four-run third chased Eagles starter John Creviston and gave WLC hope early.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin Lutheran, BenU came right back with a seven-run fourth inning, followed by an eight-run outburst in the fifth. Benedictine capitalized on every opportunity, drawing 11 walks and pounding out 17 hits.
Nigl finished 1-for-3 with two RBI, while Rintelman was 1-for-1 with a RBI and a walk. Shevey scored twice and reached base twice. Junior
Storm Portsche (Lincoln, Neb.) and freshman
Willie Lewis (Oconomowoc, Wis.) turned in scoreless relief innings for the Warriors in the third and seventh, respectively.
Zach Fell had three hits for the Eagles, while Mike Budorick was 2-for-4 with four RBI, three runs, and a walk. Nicholas Rayyan pitched 4.1 scoreless relief innings to earn his first win of the season.
GAME 2
WLC wasted no time getting on the board. Freshman
Ryan Pierquet (Chilton, Wis.) led off the bottom of the first with a single, then came around to score on a two-out RBI single from senior
Nolan Hodgins (Caledonia, Wis.), putting Wisconsin Lutheran up 1–0.
Starter
Elijah Shevey delivered 6.2 strong innings, keeping BenU quiet through the first three frames and holding them to just one run through six, a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. He struck out six and walked three before Benedictine took a 4–1 lead in the top of the seventh with three runs on just one hit. The Eagles added three more insurance runs over the final two innings.
In the eighth, the Warriors mounted a threat. Rintelman led off with a single and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by junior
Oliver Lopeztello (Chicago, Ill.) to make it 6–2. Despite loading the bases, WLC couldn't come up with the big hit to close the gap.
Rintelman went 3-for-4 with a run scored and Hodgins was 3-for-5 with a RBI. Pierquet and Lopeztello tallied two hits each.
Three players posted two hits apiece for BenU (17-13, 9-7 NACC), while Kyle Campbell and Tommy Jusi Jr. drove in two runs each. JT Adams moved to 5-0 on the season after tossing 8.0 innings and allowing two earned runs. He scattered 11 hits and fanned five.
Wisconsin Lutheran travels to Schaumburg, Illinois on Saturday for a 12 p.m. NACC doubleheader against Dominican (11-16, 4-10 NACC) at Wintrust Field. Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.
Â
