PLYMOUTH, Wis. –
Collin Schutz (
Jr.-Saint Amant, La.) delivered a go-ahead two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Lakeland University baseball team rallied to win the second game and gain a split of a doubleheader with Concordia University Chicago Saturday afternoon.
The Muskies came back late for a 10-5 win in the second game of their home opening twinbill. The victory came after Concordia posted a 15-6 win in Saturday's first game.
Lakeland (3-6 overall) came back from a 5-3 deficit in the seventh inning of the nightcap, scoring twice to tie in the seventh and then putting up five runs in a span of three pitches in the eighth.
Lino Figueroa (
Jr.-Westchester, Ill.) doubled to drive in
Kellen Hodges (
Fr.-Littleton, Colo.) in the seventh and then scored the tying run, racing home after Schutz was picked off of first base and tagged out near second. The Muskies then loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth with one out, but Figueroa's fly out left the sacks still loaded with two outs.
Schutz followed and on a 1-1 count sent a ball back through the box and into center for a big base hit, scoring
Dylan Penny (
Jr.-River Falls, Wis.) and
Hunter Frisk (
So.-Manteca, Calif.) for a 7-5 lead. A close game then was suddenly blown open two pitches later, when
Nathan Hemmerling (
So.-Riverside, Calif.) got every bit of a Mike Tobin fastball and crushed it to left field, a majestic blast well over the wall for a three-run homer and a 10-5 lead.
Tyler Penny (
Fr.-River Falls, Wis.) closed out the Cougars in the top of the ninth, allowing a pair of two-out hits but getting the final out on a grounder to third base that his brother Dylan took to the bag for the unassisted force to end it. Penny finished the game getting the win, pitching four innings in relief and allowing one run on four hits with two strikeouts for his first collegiate win. He came on for
Mason Pechy (
Sr.-Diamond Bar, Calif.), who pitched five innings and tied his career high with nine strikeouts.
The Muskies hung tough and pulled through in the second game after an opener that started with promise but disintegrated due in large part to one inning.
Lakeland built a 4-0 lead after three innings, taking advantage of three early Concordia errors.
Jack Banks (
Sr.-Mountain View, Calif.) doubled and later scored on an error, Hemmerling grounded out to drive in
Brian Biggs (
So.-Romeoville, Ill.), and Schutz scored on another error to make it 3-0 in the second, and the Muskies added another run when
Dylan Penny doubled and came around to score after Banks singled to center, with a misplay leading to Penny coming across to make it 4-0.
The Cougars (4-7 overall) came back with a run in the fourth and then erupted in the fifth for 11 runs, sending 14 batters to the plate. Hemmerling was on the mound and struck out six through the first four innings, but he could not get out of the fourth, surrendering nine runs in the inning and ten runs overall. CUC took advantage of seven hits, four walks, a hit batter and two wild pitches against Hemmerling and
Tyler Penny in the inning to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 12-4 lead.
The Muskies would play from well behind the rest of the game, with only a pair of RBI ground outs by Schutz to show on the scoreboard.
Dylan Penny led Lakeland at the plate with four hits on the day and three runs scored. Hodges added three hits and four runs scored, Frisk also posted three hits and Schutz finished with four runs driven in.
Caleb Anderson went 4-for-5 at the plate in both games for Concordia Chicago. Cole Carman pitched a complete game in the opener, allowing nine hits and six runs (three earned) with nine strikeouts, while Tobin took the loss in the second game, allowing five runs in an inning in relief.
Lakeland is home again for its next games Wednesday when it hosts Illinois Institute of Technology for a doubleheader starting at noon.
Box Score Game 1 CUC 15 Lakeland 6
Box Score Game 2 Lakeland 10 CUC 5
