A late innings rally in the second game fell short and the Lakeland University baseball team scrapped but came up empty on Senior Day in a pair of losses to Milwaukee School of Engineering Friday afternoon.

The Raiders rallied for an 8-3 win in the first game and then held on to win 8-5 in the second half of the expedited Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference doubleheader, as the final home games for seven seniors on the Lakeland team was moved up one day in order to beat forecasted wet and possibly snowy weather on Saturday. Instead, the teams played Friday afternoon with a strong northwest wind making fly balls an adventure, and a pair of lengthy games resulted in play concluding just before sunset.

MSOE (11-21 overall, 8-10 NACC) had more success at the plate and slicing through the wind as the day went on, coming back from a 3-0 deficit in the first game and building a big lead early in the second. The Raiders finished with 28 hits over the two games, and also were the first NACC team in nearly a month to have success against Lakeland freshman pitcher Nathan Hemmerling (Riverside, Calif.).

The Muskies (7-26 overall, 5-13 NACC) scored three times to take the lead in the fourth inning of game one with some help from the wind. Alberto Olivares (So.-Fort Myers, Fla.) doubled to drive in Connor Hilburn (Sr.-Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) with the first run, and Collin Schutz (So.-Saint Amant, La.) followed with a high pop-up in front of the pitcher's mound with two outs that blew out of reach of two MSOE fielders. Two runs scored and Schutz hustled all the way to second base for a two-run infield double.

MSOE countered with two runs in the fifth, taking advantage of two Lakeland errors, and then scored four times in the sixth. Ryan Kocher hit a slicing double to right-center to drive in two runs, the second of three doubles in the inning, and Hemmerling left after 5 1/3 and finished with a final line of nine hits and five runs allowed (three earned) with eight strikeouts.

The Raiders got off to a quick start in the second game, scoring all of their runs over the second and third innings with three in the second and five in the third. Andres Oselio singled three times in the first three innings and finished 5-for-6 for the game with two RBIs, and Nick Stricker also drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk in the second and added a two-run double in the third.

Lakeland scored its first run when Schutz reached on a fielder's choice, stole second, then stole again and came home when the throw down to third went into left field. The Muskies then chipped away after falling behind 8-1, starting with two runs in the fourth as Lino Figueroa (So.-Westchester, Ill.) reached on a fielder's choice to drive in Mason Valenstein (Fr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) and Hunter Frisk (Fr.-Manteca, Calif.) came in to score soon after on a passed ball.

Lakeland added a run in the seventh when Hilburn singled to score fellow senior Peyton Knoll (Linden, Mich.), and Oliveras scored after a leadoff double in the ninth after Hemmerling reached on an error, but the Muskies would get no closer.

Olivares and Travis Regalado (Sr.-Willcox, Ariz.) both led the Muskies with three hits on the day. Jordan Johnson (Sr.-Riverton, Utah) got the start and took the loss in the second game, allowing five hits and three runs in 1 2/3 innings. Joey McNaught (Sr.-Albany, Wis.) and Brandon Janowicz (Fr.-Rolling Meadows, Ill.) both had strong outings in relief, with McNaught throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and Janowicz adding three scoreless innings with two K's.

Ryan Oharriz (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Jon Rivera (Lowell, Ind.) also both played their final home games for Lakeland, with Oharriz pitching in the first game and Rivera coming on at third base early in the second.

The Muskies have two more NACC doubleheaders on the road scheduled to close out the season. Lakeland next is scheduled to play Dominican University on Sunday in Schaumburg, Ill.