FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Lakeland University baseball team rallied late in both games of a doubleheader with Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham (N.J.) but ultimately came up short in both games Sunday at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.
The Devils held on for a 3-2 win in the first game before claiming a 16-11 victory in the second game. The losses in two seven-inning games dropped the Muskies to 1-2 on the young season, while FDU-Florham improved to 3-3.
FDU-Florham held a 3-0 lead through five innings in the first game until Lakeland responded in the sixth as freshman
Tyler LaMack (
Pewaukee, Wis.) hit an RBI double to cut the deficit to 3-1. The Muskies drew closer in the seventh when
Jack Banks (
Sr.-Mountain View, Calif.) singled up the middle to score a run and make the score 3-2, but a fielders' choice with the bases loaded closed it out to seal the win for the Devils.
Mason Pechy (
Sr.-Diamond Bar, Calif.) took the loss for Lakeland after allowing three runs on three hits with five strikeouts in four innings of work.
Carter Chapman (
Jr.-Costa Mesa, Calif.) threw the final two frames and gave up just one hit and struck out one.
Both teams' bats came alive in the second game, as the Muskies and Devils combined to score 18 runs in the first three innings. Lakeland trailed 15-3 until the fifth inning when the offense erupted for six runs to cut the Devils' lead to 15-9.
Mason Valenstein (
So.-Sheboygan, Wis.) and
Collin Schutz (
Jr.-Saint Amant, La.) each had an RBI double in the inning, and
Brandon Punzel (
Sr.-Escanaba, Mich.),
Trevor Meier (
Sr.-Columbus, Mont.) and
Dylan Penny (
Jr.-River Falls, Wis.) each picked up an RBI as well. Lakeland tacked on two runs in the top of the sixth to make the score 15-11, but that was as close as the Muskies would come the rest of the way, falling by a final score of 16-11.
Jack Shevalier (
Sr.-Helena, Mont.) picked up the loss after allowing four runs in 1/3 of an inning pitched.
Caleb Jones (
Fr.-Madisonville, Ky.) highlighted the Muskie pitchers in game two, tossing a scoreless two innings and striking out four hitters.
Punzel finished the day going 5-for-7 at the plate across the two games with two RBIs. LaMack also went 4-for-7 on the day with three doubles, three RBIs, two runs scored and one walk. Lakeland once again got contributions from the entire team as ten different Muskies recorded at least one hit between the two games.
Lakeland will play for the third day in a row with a single game game Monday morning against Baruch College (N.Y.) at 9 a.m. local time in Fort Myers, Fla., 8 a.m. Central time.
