OCONOMOWOC, Wis. (WLCSports.com) – Wisconsin Lutheran College opened Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play on Wednesday by splitting a doubleheader with Edgewood. The Warriors won the opener, 13-11, before the Eagles salvaged a split with a 14-4 win in the nightcap at Wisconsin Brewing Company Park.
Game 1: Wisconsin Lutheran 13, Edgewood 11
The Warriors (5-10, 1-1 NACC) pounded out 14 hits and drew 11 walks, answering every Eagles (9-7, 3-1 NACC) rally in a game that featured six home runs and multiple lead changes.
EU struck first with a three-run homer in the opening inning, but WLC responded immediately as junior
Colt Ratliff (Oxford, Ga.) blasted a three-run shot to left-center to tie the game at 3-3.
Wisconsin Lutheran gradually built a 6-3 lead through three innings behind RBI hits from freshman
Lincoln Thede (Appleton, Wis.) and senior
Oliver Lopeztello (Chicago, Ill.), before Edgewood surged back in the fourth. A grand slam capped a four-run inning and gave the Eagles a 7-6 advantage.
The Warriors answered again in the bottom half, tying the game on a bases-loaded walk by senior
Zach Alburg (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) and reclaiming the lead on junior
Aiden Montgomery's (St. Louis, Mo.) RBI fielder's choice.
The teams traded runs into the late innings. After the Eagles tied the game at 9-9 in the sixth, freshman
Dawsen Burington (Appleton, Wis.) delivered an RBI single to put WLC back in front. Ratliff added insurance in the seventh with his second homerun of the day, a two-run blast to extend the lead to 12-9.
EU pulled within one in the eighth on Mac Vesperman's second homer of the game, but Wisconsin Lutheran answered in the bottom half when sophomore
Ryan Pierquet (Chilton, Wis.) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run and make it 13-11.
Sophomore
Brett Gatch (Hometown, Ill.) closed the door over the final 2 2/3 innings to earn his first save, allowing one hit and two runs while striking out three. Sophomore
Zach Rodrigues (Monee, Ill.) picked up the win in relief, tossing 1 1/3 innings and allowing one run on three hits with one strikeout.
Ratliff led the Warriors at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two homeruns, five RBIs, three runs scored, and two walks. Pierquet finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while junior
Ian Rintelman (Muskego, Wis.) scored three times and reached base four times. Thede added two hits and three runs scored, Burington went 3-for-3 with an RBI, and Lopeztello drove in two runs on two hits.
Vesperman paced Edgewood with a 3-for-5 performance, including two homeruns and three RBIs. Charlie Tompach drove in four runs on his grand slam, while Aidan Kammer added three RBIs. Jacob Carney contributed two hits and an RBI, and Hayden Hellenbrand and Dominic Lee each recorded two hits.
Game 2: Edgewood 14, Wisconsin Lutheran 4
The Eagles struck first with three runs in the third inning, highlighted by an RBI double and two run-scoring putouts.
WLC answered in the fourth as Ratliff doubled home a run and junior
Caleb Lott (Peoria, Ill.) delivered a two-run single to tie the game at 3-3. After EU regained a 4-3 lead in the fifth, Wisconsin Lutheran evened the score again on Pierquet's RBI single.
The game remained tied until the seventh when Edgewood took advantage of a Warriors error to go ahead 5-4. The Eagles then broke the game open in the eighth, scoring six runs on four hits. EU added three more runs in the ninth to extend the lead.
Pierquet and Lott each recorded two hits to lead WLC's nine-hit effort. Lott finished with two RBIs, while Ratliff added a hit, an RBI, and a run scored. Rintelman and junior
Jaxon Raabe (Mukwonago, Wis.) each scored a run for Wisconsin Lutheran.
For Edgewood, Tompach led the way with three hits and four runs scored. Carney drove in two runs, while Kammer totaled three RBIs. Vesperman and Kelley each homered as part of the Eagles' 12-hit attack. Cole Pulliam earned the win in relief, tossing four scoreless innings while allowing four hits and striking out three.
The Warriors travel to Waukesha tomorrow for a single non-conference game against Carroll (11-8) starting at 4:40 p.m. Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.
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