MELBOURNE, Fla. (WLCSports.com) – Wisconsin Lutheran College held off a late-inning rally to open its spring break trip with a doubleheader split at the Space Coast Spring Games on Sunday, earning a 4-3 victory in game two over Emerson. The Warriors dropped the opener 12-1 in five innings against Shenandoah at USSSA Space Coast Complex.
Shenandoah 12, Wisconsin Lutheran 1 (5 Inn.)
The Hornets capitalized on a leadoff walk and a pair of stolen bases to open the game to take an early 1-0 lead. After a pair of scoreless frames, WLC evened the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth on a two-out RBI single to center field from freshman
Peyton Crutcher (Ashwaubenon, Wis.).
SU immediately answered in the bottom half of the fourth capitalizing on four errors and eight hits en route to an 11-run frame, breaking the game open at 12-1 through four.
Freshman
Anna Bracke (Brookfield, Wis.) went 2-for-2 with a double and stolen base to lead Wisconsin Lutheran. Crutcher, freshman
Katelyn Ruth (Canton, Mich.), and sophomore
Raquel Shields (Itasca, Ill.) each recorded a hit in the contest.
Cadence Rieg and Paige Eagleton led Shenandoah (5-1) with a pair of hits and RBI. Gracie Ravenkamp improved to 4-0 in the circle after allowing just one run in 5.0 innings with five punchouts.
Wisconsin Lutheran 4, Emerson 3
A second-inning RBI single from freshman
Hannah Stellmacher (Fairwater, Wis.) plated Ruth to give the Warriors an early 1-0 lead. WLC tacked on another run in the third when junior
Madison Heller (South Milwaukee, Wis.) led off the inning with a walk and a stolen base, and came around to score on a sacrifice fly to right field from Crutcher.
After stranding a runner on base in each of the first three innings, the Lions finally broke through on the scoreboard in the fourth, trimming Wisconsin Lutheran's lead to 2-1. EC threatened to score in the fifth, but sophomore
Teagan Piven (Plainfield, Ill.) stranded a pair of inherited runners with back-to-back punchouts.
The Warriors added to their lead on a sacrifice fly from junior
Sommer Krull (New London, Wis.) in the fifth and tacked on a valuable insurance run the next frame on a run-scoring groundout from Stellmacher to push the lead to 4-1.
Emerson didn't go away quietly in the last inning as the first four batters reached base and had the tying run on second base with the go ahead run behind at first, but Piven closed out the game with a popout on the infield to give WLC the 4-3 victory.
Sophomore
Brianna Wascher (South Elgin, Ill.) improved her record in the circle to 2-0, allowing one unearned run in 4.1 innings. Piven earned her first save of the season with 2.2 innings in relief with four strikeouts. Stellmacher paced the offense with two RBI, while junior
Julianna Alloy (Harrison Township, Mich.) recorded a multi-hit game with her 2-for-3 performance.
Valentina Luciano went 3-for-4 out of the leadoff spot for the Lions (1-3), who stranded nine runners on base. Kate Regan suffered the loss, allowing four runs, two earned, in 6.0 innings.
Wisconsin Lutheran (2-2) continues play at the Space Coast Spring Games in Melbourne, Florida, with two games against Muskingum (4-0) and Cornell College (4-0) at 12:15 p.m. ET and 4:45 p.m. ET, respectively, at the USSSA Space Coast Complex.
