PLYMOUTH, Wis. – St. Norbert College took the lead in its final at bat in both games and defeated the Lakeland University baseball team twice in the teams' Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon.
A cold and windy day was made even more biting for the Muskies as the Green Knights took an 11-9 win in 10 innings in the first game and then broke a scoreless tie in the ninth inning in a 2-0 win in the second. Lakeland continued to be close in a number of its conference losses, falling for the fourth time by a two-run margin in dropping to 10-21 overall and 4-12 in the NACC.
The Muskies were one out away from finishing off the first game, leading 9-8 with two outs and nobody on in the top of the ninth.
Rily Roberts (
Fr.-Chattanooga, Tenn.) had allowed just one run in three innings when St. Norbert lefthanded hitter Jake Lucas hit a home run to right field, his first home run of the season and the only home run on a blustery day with regular 15-20 mile per hour winds gusting to 30 miles per hour and the wind blowing left-to-right across the field.
Lakeland had retaken the lead with a run in the eighth when
OakLee Spens (
Sr.-South Weber, Utah) led off with a double and
Zak Keegan (
Sr.-Frankfort, Ill.) drove him in with a single through the right side, but the Muskies went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth and the Green Knights (8-18 overall, 3-11 NACC) took the lead in the 10th. Levi Crosswell was hit by a pitch with one out and A.J. Kisting and Devin Geary both followed with RBI doubles to give St. Norbert the lead, and Lakeland again went down in order in the bottom of the 10th for its second extra-inning loss in NACC play.
The second game's finish was no less dispiriting for the Muskies.
Mason Holz (
Fr.-Waupun, Wis.) and
Eli Watkins (
So.-Herrin, Ill.) combined for eight shutout innings in what turned into a pitchers' duel, including Holz with his best collegiate outing with six clean innings allowing four hits and striking out six.
Lakeland also could get little going at the plate, though, and missed an opportunity in the eighth when Keegan and
Tucker Gegenfurtner (
So.-Onalaska, Wis.) reached to lead off the inning but a pop-up and two fly outs ended the threat.
The Green Knights then put the leadoff runner on in the ninth when Carson Krumrei reached on a walk, and after a sacrifice bunt Crosswell hit a single through the right side. Krumrei came around and scored when the throw home got away from catcher
Logan South (
Fr.-Oswego, Ill.), and SNC added a second run when Kisting reached on an error. The Muskies put two runners on with one out in the bottom of the ninth but a strikeout and a popup ended the game.
Keegan went 3-for-4 in the second game and including two hits in the opener finished with a five-hit day. Spens also added two hits in the second game. Gegenfurtner, Keegan,
Landen Sobieski (
Sr.-Berlin, Wis.) and
Caleb Sumsion (
Jr.-Dayton, Nev.) all drove in a pair of runs in the first game, including Sumsion with a two-run double in the second and Sobieski a two-run single in the third as Lakeland quickly rebounded from a 5-0 deficit to take a 6-5 lead in the third.
After eight straight games at home, the Muskies go on the road for their next games Saturday at Concordia University Chicago for a doubleheader starting at noon in River Forest, Ill.
