PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University baseball team slipped up in a break from conference play as Northland College swept the Muskies in a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon on a frigid spring day.
The LumberJacks rallied to win the first game 11-8 and then pulled away late in taking the second game 13-3. Northland won the last two meetings between the one-time conference rivals back in the 1970s, as the Ashland, Wis., school is closing at the end of this academic year.
The LumberJacks looked little like a team that came in with a 1-19 record and was averaging little over three runs a game on the season. Northland hammered out 30 hits over the two games, including 10 extra-base hits, and set and then reset its season high for runs in a game.
The Muskies (10-15 overall) still led for much of the first game, starting by building a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
Tucker Gegenfurtner (
So.-Onalaska, Wis.),
Rily Roberts (
Fr.-Chattanooga, Tenn.) and
Dylan Costello (
Jr.-New Berlin, Wis.) all drove in runs and
Sean Gregorius (
Fr.-Germantown, Wis.) scored on an error as Lakeland sent nine hitters to the plate in a start that appeared to show a good day ahead for the hosts.
Lakeland answered two runs by the LumberJacks in the second with two of their own in the fourth, and the teams both scored runs in the fifth with Costello's RBI single making it 7-3. Northland showed it wasn't going anywhere, though, scoring four times in the sixth to tie the game, and the guests took the lead with four runs in the eighth. A pair of Muskies errors contributed as the Jacks scored four times with just one hit in the inning, a go-ahead two-run single by Tyler Murphy to make it 9-8.
Gegenfurtner and
Zak Keegan (
Sr.-Frankfort, Ill.) both had three hits in the first game and Gregorius added two hits.
Ian Scherbring (
Jr.-Sioux Falls, S.D.) made the start and pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits and three runs (two earned) with two strikeouts, while
Charles Schaefer (
Fr.-Sag Harbor, N.Y.) took the loss, putting on the eventual tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth.
The LumberJacks then controlled the second game almost from the start. Northland scored a run in the second and two more in the third to take a 3-0 lead, and the Muskies struggled to solve starting pitcher Dezmon LeTexier, who opened with five scoreless innings.
Northland added another run in the top of the sixth to make it 4-0 before Lakeland finally mounted a rally. Keegan singled with one out and Gegenfurtner followed with a double to deep right field to score Keegan. Roberts then hit a single down the left field line to score Gegenfurtner, and Roberts later scored on a throwing error on a play started by a single by
Caleb Sumsion (
Jr.-Dayton, Nev.).
The Jacks would pull back away though, first with a run in the seventh, and then with four runs in both the eighth and ninth innings. Vinny Cooney hit a three-run triple in the eighth, part of a 4-for-4 game at the plate, and Caden Willis capped a huge day with a three-run homer in the ninth.
OakLee Spens (
Sr.-South Weber, Utah) went 3-for-5 in the second game with a pair of doubles and Sumsion added two hits.
Kaden Kowalewsky (
So.-Madison, Wis.) made his first appearance of the season, starting the second game and taking the loss after allowing two hits and three unearned runs in 2 2/3 innings.
Bryan Mitchell (
So.-Adell, Wis.) had the most productive relief performance of the day for Lakeland, going 4 1/3 innings and allowing five hits and two runs (one earned).
LeTexier wound up pitching six innings in the second game to earn his first win of the season. Willis finished the day with seven hits in nine at bats as well as six runs scored and four RBIs.
The Muskies are back on the field tomorrow for a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference doubleheader against Wisconsin Lutheran College starting at noon.
