Warriors split with nationally-recognized North Park
WLC hosts Carroll on Sunday at 1 p.m.
March 24, 2012
Freshman Jaime PaumenGame 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
CHICAGO, Ill. – The Wisconsin Lutheran College baseball team split its doubleheader matchup against North Park on Saturday at the Holmgren Athletic Complex in Chicago, Ill. The Warriors fell in the first of the two 8-3, but bounced back in the second game by pulling out a 10-6 win.
The Warriors scored first in the second game, as a second inning North Park error allowed Sam Mattheis (Rosendale, Wis./Laconia) to cross the plate. North Park responded, however, with a solo home run from Kyle Williams in the same inning.
Garrick Day (Elk Mound, Wis./Elk Mound) reached on an error in the third inning to start a plethora of scoring to give the Warriors an early jump. Cody Nevils (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca Raton) then singled to bring in Day for the first run of the inning. After Doug Martin (West Bend, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) and Joey Hodkiewicz (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) reached on consecutive walks, Tyler Schoen (Marion, Wis./Marion) doubled down the left field line scoring Nevils and Martin. Mattheis then grounded out to second base, but brought home Hodkiewicz to add to the inning total. Ian Zahn (Fond du Lac, Wis./Winnebago Lutheran) then recorded the last RBI of the inning as his single brought Schoen across the plate to end the five-run inning, giving the Warriors a 6-1 lead.
The Warriors would continue their route as they added one more run in the fifth inning. Hodkiewicz tripled and then was brought home on a single by Schoen. North Park would then neutralize the run by adding one of its own to make the score 7-2 at the end of the fifth.
The route continued still through the seventh as WLC added a pair of runs. Nevils and Martin hit back-to-back singles and were eventually brought home on error during a Schoen at-bat.
North Park, which is receiving votes in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25 Poll, continued to fight as it recorded four runs in two innings, however the Warriors were too much as they padded their lead when Martin brought in Day in the ninth to give the Warriors their 10-6 win.
Jaime Paumen (Glencoe, Minn./Silver-Lake) posted his first win of the season with his start in the second game. He struck out three batters and gave up two earned runs. Steve Gustafson (West Bend, Wis./Luther Preparatory) came in for the close and tallied one strikeout and gave up three earned runs.
The Vikings bettered the Warriors in the first game however, as the Warriors were slow to get the bats going. The Warriors did jump out to an early lead as a Martin home run gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the first inning. They then jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning on a Nevils single that scored Connor Vredeveld (Waterloo, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran).
North Park (12-3) went on a scoring frenzy as they scored eight runs in its final five innings. The Vikings proved too much as the Warriors could only tack on one more run which came in the eighth inning as Schoen brought in Hodkiewicz on an RBI single
Josh Smith (Appleton, Wis./East) started on the mound for the Warriors as he struck out one and surrendered six earned runs through five and two thirds innings pitched. Jordan Kalous (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee-Crown) finished the game tallying one strikeout and giving up one earned run through two and a third innings.
The Warriors (2-9) return home Sunday, March 24 as they take on Carroll in a doubleheader. The games are set to start at 1 p.m. at Neumann Family Field.
