PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Tyler LaMack (Sr.-Pewaukee, Wis.) hit a game-winning solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of the first game and Andrew Krause (Fr.-Wauwatosa, Wis.) pitched a gem for most of the second game as the Lakeland University baseball team swept Concordia University Chicago in its home-opening doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

LaMack's homer to lead off the bottom of the ninth gave the Muskies a 10-9 win and their long-awaited first victory of the season. Lakeland then came back to dominate in an 8-3 win in the nightcap to sweep the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference date.

The Muskies (2-15 overall, 2-6 NACC) never led in the opener until LaMack hit his third home run of the season and of the week. On a 2-2 count, the lefthanded-hitting first baseman hit a no-doubt blast to left field, capping a comeback as Lakeland responded time and again to Concordia's attempts to pull away.

The Muskies trailed 3-0 in the third inning before LaMack hit a two-run double to get on the board, but the Cougars answered with three in the top of the fourth to go ahead 6-2. Lakeland came back with two in the bottom of the inning including a run-scoring single by Noah Leopold (So.-Appleton, Wis.), only for CUC to add another run in the top of the fifth to pull ahead 7-4.

The Muskies tied it for the first time in the fifth, taking advantage of one of five Cougar errors when Griffin Robinson (So.-Pike Road, Ala.) hit his second homer in two days, a three-run shot with two outs to tie the game at 7-7. Concordia answered with a home run of its own to go back ahead, with Garry Maynard hitting a two-run homer to make it 9-7 in the sixth.

Lakeland would bounce back with a run in the sixth with Oaklee Spens (Jr.-Burbank, Calif.) delivering a sacrifice fly to cash in after Leopold's leadoff walk, and the Muskies tied it in the eighth when Chris Day (Fr.-Victorville, Calif.) led off the eighth with an infield single, moved to second on a balk and scored when Leopold reached on an error, getting on base for the fourth time in the game.

The comeback made a winner out of Kyle Gould (So.-Crete, Ill.), who earned his first collegiate win with 5 2/3 innings of relief where he allowed five hits and three runs with three strikeouts. LaMack finished with three hits and would continue his big day with two more hits and two runs scored in the second game, which was marked by an outstanding outing by Krause in earning his first collegiate win.

The freshman lefthander pitched a complete game that included holding the Cougars (9-11 overall, 2-4 NACC) hitless for 6 1/3 innings before Tyler Dorsch broke up the no-hitter with a single. Krause faced the minimum through seven innings and had a shutout until Michael Kasik hit a two-out, three-run homer in the top of the ninth to get CUC on the board.

Krause finished allowing six hits and three unearned runs with seven strikeouts in the complete game win. He received all the runs he would need in the third when Lakeland scored four times, including a two-run double by Spens to get the Muskies on the board, another run coming in when LaMack reached on an error, and LaMack later stealing home on the back end of an attempted double steal to make it 4-0.


Lakeland added another run in the fourth with a successful double steal with Robinson coming home to score, and Lane Sobieski (Sr.-Berlin, Wis.) came in on a wild pitch in the fifth to make it 6-0. Kellen Hodges (Jr.-Littleton, Colo.) added RBI singles in both the fifth and seventh innings to round out the scoring.

Spens and Sobieski also had two hits each in the second game. The Muskies also added six stolen bases in the game and turned two double plays on defense.

Lakeland is home again Tuesday when it steps out of conference to face Maranatha Baptist University for a doubleheader starting at noon.