PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University baseball team scored three times in the bottom of the eighth inning, rallying for a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Milwaukee School of Engineering in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

The Raiders came back for an 11-5 win in the second game of the twinbill matching two of the early leaders in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference North Division. The split allows MSOE at 5-1 in the NACC North to keep a share of first in the division in a tie with Marian University, while the Muskies remain a game behind the leaders at 4-2 in division.

Lakeland (8-8 overall) scored three times with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, taking advantage of a critical error to tie the game and later take lead after being held in check most of the game.

The Muskies had runners at first and second with two out when a grounder to second base by Kellen Hodges (Fr.-Littleton, Colo.) was first bobbled by Nick Stricker and then thrown wide of first, allowing pinch runner Lane Sobieski (So.-Berlin, Wis.) to score the tying run when he knocked the ball out of the catcher's tag attempt at home. Lakeland would take further advantage soon after when Hunter Frisk (So.-Manteca, Calif.) hit a bouncer through the left side into left, scoring Kaylab Owings (Fr.-Bagdad, Ariz.) and Hodges for a 3-1 lead.

The comeback allowed the Muskies to come out on top in a pitcher's duel between MSOE's Tyler Gronert and Lakeland's Mason Pechy (Sr.-Diamond Bar, Calif.) and Tyler Penny (Fr.-River Falls, Wis.). Gronert pitched a complete game and allowed six hits and the three unearned runs with nine strikeouts, while Pechy mostly matched him for seven innings, allowing six hits and striking out five before allowing an unearned run in the top of the seventh to put MSOE on the board. Penny came on in the eighth and pitched two hitless innings with a strikeout for his third win of the season.

Lakeland kept the momentum going in game two, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning after Tyler LaMack (Fr.-Pewaukee, Wis.) hit a two-run home run to right field. The Raiders' bats responded with five runs in the next two innings that tied the score at 5-5 after four innings.

MSOE took the lead in the sixth with back-to-back doubles by Brandon Beauchamp and Josh Meier to lead off the inning, and the Raiders cored three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to take a six-run lead they would hold the rest of the game. MSOE's bullpen shined, as four pitchers combined to hold Lakeland to just one hit in the last 5 2/3 innings.

Five pitchers made an appearance for the Muskies in the second game, with Collin Schutz (Jr.-Saint Amant, La.) taking the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings of work. Andrew Erbstoesser (Fr.-Union, Ill.) tossed a scoreless 1 2/3 innings in relief with a strikeout to close the game.

Nathan Hemmerling (So.-Riverside, Calif.) led the Muskies with two hits in the second game and joined Hodges and Frisk in driving in runs.

Lakeland and MSOE meet again tomorrow, this time in Milwaukee with games at noon and 3 p.m. to finish up the teams' four-game series.