WAUWATOSA, Wis. – The MSOE baseball team rode stellar pitching to a walk-off victory in game one on its way to a doubleheader split against Wisconsin Lutheran Saturday afternoon at Neumann Family Fields.
The Raiders (12-19, 8-10 NACC) allowed just one earned run in 11 innings in game one and scored a walk-off 5-4 victory. The Warriors (16-15, 7-9 NACC) bounced back in game two for a 2-1 win.
MSOE played as the home team as the game was originally scheduled to be played at Henry Aaron Field. The game was shifted to WLC, with the Raiders remaining the "home team" status.
With the score knotted at 4-4 in the 11th inning, senior David Miklosi walked to lead off the inning. He moved to second on after a hit batter and was on third base after a fielder's choice. Junior Jake Roberts then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Miklosi with the decisive run.
The opening game was a pitcher's duel, as neither team scored until the eighth inning. The Warriors got on the board first with a run-scoring ground out in the top half of the inning. Junior Maxwell Poeske returned in kind with a groundout of his own in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 1-1.
With the score unchanged after nine innings, errors opened the door for each team to score three runs in the 10th innings. Wisconsin Lutheran plated three unearned runs with two outs in the top of the frame, and back-to-back doubles by sophomore Tyler Doyle and senior Wes Stasik gave the Raiders three unearned runs of their own.
Senior Luke Yogerst went eight innings, allowing just one run and striking out four. Freshman Brandon McCumber (3-3) came on in the ninth inning and finished the game, allowing four hits and a walk, while striking out three. He was charged with three runs, but none we earned.
Pitching was not lacking in game two, as senior Adam Vlaj pitched a complete-game gem, only to come out on the losing end. He struck out eight and walked none in nine innings. He scattered seven hits and allowed just two runs.
Wisconsin Lutheran took a 1-0 lead in the second inning and added, what proved to be, the game-winner in the seventh.
MSOE pulled a run back with just one out in the eighth inning, but left two runners on to end the inning. Stasik singled with one out and Miklosi reached on a fielder's choice. Sophomore Casey Magyar then scored Stasik with a single, but a pair of fly outs ended the frame with the tying run on second.
The Raiders close out conference play on the road Sunday. They head to Illinois to take on No. 3 Concordia Chicago for a pair of games.
