PLYMOUTH, Wis. (WLCSports.com) – Wisconsin Lutheran College swept a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference doubleheader from Lakeland on Wednesday at Muskie Baseball Field. The Warriors run-ruled the Muskies 14-2 in seven innings in the opener, before completing the sweep with a 10-8 victory in 11 innings in the nightcap.
GAME 1
After a quiet opening two innings, WLC's bats came alive in the third. Senior
Elijah Shevey (Muskego, Wis.) leadoff with a double and eventually scored the first run of the game thanks to an LU error. Two runs scored on sophomore
Colt Ratliff's (Oxford, Ga.) single and a RBI triple by sophomore
Ian Rintelman (Muskego, Wis.) made it 4-0 in favor of Wisconsin Lutheran.
In the fourth, the Warriors sent the lineup nearly around. Junior
Lucas Oswald (Muskego, Wis.) scored the first run of the frame on a sacrifice fly by freshman
Ryan Pierquet (Chilton, Wis.). Sophomore
Aiden Montgomery's (St. Louis, Mo.) two-run double to left center and senior
Nolan Hodgins' (Caledonia, Wis.) two-RBI double to right center blew the game open.
Shevey kept pouring on pressure with another leadoff double in the fifth, and Montgomery followed with his second double of the day—plating two more. In the sixth, an error-filled inning by Lakeland allowed the Warriors to tack on two more unearned runs. Montgomery leadoff the seventh with a solo homerun, his second blast of the season.
Montgomery, Hodgins, and Shevey each had three hits for WLC. Montgomery drove in five runs and scored three times, while Hodgins had two RBI. Shevey also scored three runs. Freshman
Malachi Kramer (Appleton, Wis.) turned in a gem on the hill, tossing 6.0 strong innings while giving up just one earned run and striking out two for his second win of the season.
Sean Gregorious went 2-for-3 with a walk for the Muskies.
GAME 2
Wisconsin Lutheran jumped out to a 2–0 lead after three-and-a-half innings behind a RBI double by freshman
Colin Nigl (Neenah, Wis.) in the second and a sacrifice fly from Pierquet in the fourth. LU cut its deficit in half in the fourth and took its first lead in the fifth following a three-run homerun.
A two-run double by Montgomery and RBI groundout by Ratliff in the sixth gave the Warriors a 5-4 lead. Lakeland jumped back in front in the bottom half with three unearned runs off two hits for a 7-5 advantage.
In the seventh, freshman
Jacob Lorbecki's (Richfield, Wis.) two-out triple tied the game before Pierquet laced a go-ahead RBI double. The Muskies tied it at 8–8 in the eighth on a RBI double but WLC's bullpen locked it down from there. Nigl and Oswald combined to throw the final four innings, allowing just one run on three hits and no extra-base hits after the sixth.
Oswald delivered the game-winning RBI double in the 11th to break the 8–8 tie. Just two batters later, Lorbecki tacked on an insurance run with a double to give Wisconsin Lutheran breathing room. Oswald then retired the side in order in the 11th to seal the Warriors' seventh straight victory.
Lorbecki went 4-for-4 with a triple, double, and three RBI. He reached base all six times he came to the plate (adding a hit-by-pitch and reaching on catcher's interference). Nigl also came up big for WLC, going 4-for-6 with two doubles and a RBI while pitching two critical innings in the late stages to keep the game level. Pierquet, Montgomery, Ratliff, and Oswald added two hits each. Oswald tossed the final two innings of scoreless relief for his first career victory.
Logan South was one of three players with two hits each for the Muskies (10-17, 4-8 NACC). OakLee Spens had three RBI and South scored three runs.
Wisconsin Lutheran (12-11, 7-3 NACC) hosts Illinois Institute of Technology (9-13, 5-3 NACC) on Saturday for a 1 p.m. NACC doubleheader at Neumann Family Baseball Field. Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.
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