PLYMOUTH, Wis. –
Sawyer Laffoon (
So.-Sheldon, Ill.) laid down a bases-loaded bunt to score
Jordan Domingue (
Jr.-Victorville, Calif.) with the winning run and the Lakeland University baseball team clipped Edgewood University 10-9 in 10 innings in the second game of the teams' doubleheader Tuesday.
The Muskies earned the split of the twinbill after a 13-0 loss in the first game. Lakeland is now 13-25 overall and at 6-16 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference has surpassed its conference win total from last season, with two games remaining Friday against Benedictine University.
The Muskies won an extra-innings game for the first time in more than two years with a well-executed 10th inning that started with Domingue hitting a double over the head of Edgewood third baseman Hayden Hellebrand and down the left field line.
Mikey Hernandez (
Jr.-Lennox, Calif.) then hit a one-out single up the middle that was stopped by Eagles second baseman Aidan Kammer just before going into center field, and
Bryce Backus (
So.-Kenosha, Wis.) was walked intentionally to load the bases and set up a force at any bag or at home for Edgewood.
Laffoon came up and on a 1-1 pitch laid down a perfect bunt on the first base side halfway between the pitcher and first baseman playing in. Domingue got a good jump down the line and scored at about the same time Edgewood pitcher Cole Pulliam could even get to the ball, coming in easily with the winning run.
Lakeland and Edgewood traded big innings twice in the second game, with the Muskies twice breaking out to sizeable leads before the Eagles came right back to tie. The first time came in the early innings, when answered an Eagles run in the top of the first with five in the bottom of the inning, including Backus hitting a two-run double and
Sam Goodrum (
Fr.-Colorado Springs, Colo.) sending in a run with a sacrifice bunt.
Edgewood (18-17 overall, 12-10 NACC) answered right back with four runs in the top of the second, including Hellebrand with a two-run single for one of his four hits in the game. The score remained tied at 5-5 then until the bottom of the sixth, when the Muskies struck for four runs, all with two outs. Backus and Laffoon both walked with two outs against Eagles starter Mark Tor, and Goodrum greeted reliever Pulliam with a two-run double to left to put Lakeland ahead.
Chris Finn (
Jr.-Mapleton, Ill.) then entered as a pinch hitter and hit a two-run homer to left center for his sixth home run of the season and giving the Muskies a 9-5 lead.
That lead also would be short-lived, as Edgewood scored four times in the seventh to tie again.
Eli Watkins (
Jr.-Herrin, Ill.) had allowed just one hit over four innings of relief entering the seventh, but the Eagles strung together three straight hits to score a run, and Dominic Lee later hit a two-out, two-run double to right center. Ben Truby followed with a single through the right side to make it 9-9.
Rily Roberts (
So.-Chattanooga, Tenn.) came on to pitch in the eighth and would shut down Edgewood over three innings. Roberts allowed a single hit in all three innings, including a pair of leadoff singles, but got out of trouble and earned his first win of the season.
Domingue had three hits in the second game as well as three highlight diving catches in the gap in right center to take away hits. The trio of Backus, Laffoon and Goodrum also gave the Muskies a lift from the 5-6-7 spots in the order, combining for seven hits and seven RBIs and in all reaching bases 12 times, including five walks. Backus went 3-for-4 and walked twice, Laffoon went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and walked twice, and Goodrum was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
The Muskies picked up the win after a first game that was close for five innings but got away late.
Owen Fekety (
Fr.-Lancaster, Calif.) was excellent through five innings, allowing just a single hit, a double by Kammer that scored Kyle Prindle, who was hit by a pitch to start the inning and was just the second Edgewood baserunner of the game to that point.
The Eagles began to pull away in the sixth, making liberal use of the bunt. Hellebrand led off with a bunt single down the line, and Edgewood would bunt five times in the inning in all and scored three runs on a mix of well-placed bunts and miscommunications on defense. The Eagles built a 4-0 lead, then broke the game open late with single runs in the seventh and eighth innings and then seven runs in the ninth.
Edgewood pitcher Aiden Shumaker was in charge on the mound, pitching a complete game five-hit shutout and striking out 12. Fekety took the loss, pitching much better than a final stat line of 6 2/3 innings that included seven hits and five runs allowed with three strikeouts.
Lakeland wraps up its season Friday against Benedictine for two games starting at noon.
