FORT MYERS, Fla. (WLCSports.com) – Wisconsin Lutheran College erupted for seven runs in the fifth inning and finished with 14 hits to defeat Pitt.-Bradford, 16-6, in eight innings on Thursday at Terry Park during the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.
The Panthers opened the scoring in the top of the first with a sacrifice fly to right field for a 1-0 lead. The Warriors answered in the bottom half as senior
Eli Michaelis (Wauwatosa, Wis.) scored on a ground-ball double play to tie the game.
WLC took its first lead in the second inning when freshman
Dawsen Burington (Appleton, Wis.) singled up the middle to score senior
Oliver Lopeztello (Chicago, Ill.) and make it 2-1. UPB tied the game in the third on an RBI double to left-center.
Wisconsin Lutheran regained the advantage in the fourth as junior
Colt Ratliff (Oxford, Ga.) launched a solo homerun to left-center. The Warriors added two more runs in the inning on defensive miscues to extend the lead to 5-2.
After Pitt.-Bradford trimmed the deficit to 5-3 in the fifth on an RBI double, WLC broke the game open with a seven-run bottom half. Wisconsin Lutheran took advantage of a throwing error before RBI hits from freshman
Will Winiarz (Chicago, Ill.) and Ratliff highlighted the rally, pushing the lead to 12-3.
Winiarz added an RBI single in the sixth to make it 13-3. The Panthers briefly closed the gap in the seventh with a three-run homerun to left field, but the Warriors quickly answered. Junior
Ian Rintelman (Muskego, Wis.) and Ratliff hit back-to-back solo homers later in the inning to stretch the lead to 15-6. WLC ended the game in the eighth when Winiarz doubled down the left-field line to score Burington for the final run.
Ratliff led Wisconsin Lutheran at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI. Winiarz finished 3-for-5 with four RBI, while Burington collected two hits and two RBI. Freshman
Jacob Bickel (Appleton, Wis.) earned the win for the Warriors, allowing two runs on six hits over four innings. Five pitchers combined to limit UPB to nine hits.
Trent Bielak paced Pitt.-Bradford (1-9) with three hits and two RBI. Aiden Zimmerman drove in three runs with his seventh-inning homer. Patrick Synan took the loss after allowing nine runs, four earned, over 4.1 innings.
WLC (3-6) plays its final game at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic tomorrow, taking on Geneva (6-2) at 9 a.m. ET in a single, nine-inning contest. Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.
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