WAUWATOSA, Wis. (WLCSports.com) – Wisconsin Lutheran College couldn't keep pace with hot-hitting St. Norbert on Wednesday, dropping both ends of a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference doubleheader at Neumann Family Baseball Field by scores of 16-5 in seven innings and 11-5.
GAME 1
The Green Knights came out swinging, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning, including five hits and four extra base hits.
WLC responded quickly in the bottom half with an unearned run, then added two more in the second thanks to a RBI double by junior
Lucas Oswald (Muskego, Wis.) and a sacrifice fly by senior
Elijah Shevey (Muskego, Wis.). Wisconsin Lutheran pulled within one at 6–5 by the end of the third after RBI singles from sophomore
Ian Rintelman (Muskego, Wis.) and senior
Noah Zaccanti (Geneva, Ill.), but was held scoreless for the rest of the game.
SNC, which scored in every inning but the seventh, broke the game wide open in the sixth with a seven-run frame.
Offensively, the Warriors saw multi-hit games from Rintelman (2-for-3, RBI) and Zaccanti (2-for-3, RBI). Ratliff, Oswald, and freshman
Ryan Pierquet (Chilton, Wis.) also added a hit for WLC. Senior
Jaime Miner (Erie, Ill.) tossed a scoreless final inning of relief.
Trevor Reinhardt led the offensive charge for St. Norbert, going 3-for-4 with five RBI, four runs, a triple, and a two-run homer. Dawson Schmidt was 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs. Jason Schroeder earned the win, pitching 6.0 innings and allowing five runs (four earned) while striking out two.
GAME 2
The Green Knights started the game with three straight singles which led to a pair of first-inning runs. A second-inning sacrifice fly and a three-run homerun in the third pushed SNC's lead to 6-0. After sophomore
Aiden Montgomery (St. Louis, Mo.) and Ratliff reached base to start the bottom of the third, Rintelman launched his fifth homerun of the season to cut Wisconsin Lutheran's deficit in half.
St. Norbert scored four runs in the sixth via a two-run homerun, single, and double. In the bottom of the inning, freshman
Colin Nigl (Neenah, Wis.) drove in a run with a single and a sacrifice fly from freshman
Jacob Lorbecki (Richfield, Wis.) pulled the Warriors within 10-5. A leadoff homerun in the top of the eighth accounted for the Green Knights' final tally of the day.
Ratliff went 2-for-5 with a run and Nigl finished 2-for-4 with a RBI for WLC. Rintelman, Pierquet, Zaccanti, and Oswald also recorded a hit. Oswald struckout three batters in a ninth-inning relief appearance.
Schmidt went 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored for SNC (13-19, 7-11 NACC). Luke Steebs pitched 6.0 innings, allowing five runs with five strikeouts to pickup the win.
Wisconsin Lutheran (13-19, 8-10 NACC) hosts Concordia Chicago (22-13, 13-7 NACC) on Saturday for a 12 p.m. Senior Day NACC doubleheader at Neumann Family Baseball Field. Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.
