Box Score
MADISON, Wis. - What should have been the celebration of an outstanding Edgewood College pitching performance ended up a heartbreaking reminder that it's never over until it's over. UW-Platteville's Jason Jacobson hit a solo home run to lead off the 11th inning and give the Pioneers a 7-6 win in a game they trailed 6-2 in the ninth. Edgewood College's Rick Walsh set a career-high for strikeouts but his bullpen and hitters were unable to deliver him a win.
After a shaky first inning, in which the Pioneers scored twice, Walsh was downright dominant for the next seven innings. Walsh struck out 13 batters, including an amazing streak in the third through sixth innings when he struck out nine of 12 consecutive batters. A brilliant double play started with a diving stop by shortstop Jimy Landwehr helped Walsh escape from the seventh inning.
Walsh left with a four-run lead, but the Eagles weren't able to hold it in the ninth. The Pioneers nearly ran themselves out of the inning, twice getting caught with two base runners at third base. However, with the bases loaded and three runs already in, the Eagles nearly had the game won. A groundball to shortstop turned into a footrace to second base between Landwehr and Pioneer base runners Kevin Osmanski. Oskmanski beat Landwehr to the bag by a fraction of a second and Jacobson came across with the tying run.
The Eagles loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, but eventual winning pitcher Justin Cox got Scott Ortega to ground out to third to end the threat.
Alex Berta drove in the first three Eagle runs with RBI singles in the third, fifth and seventh innings. An dropped fly on Dan Gugel's sinking liner to right field allowed the Eagles to put up a 5-2 lead after seven innings. In the eighth Cory McCullick drove in Andrew King, who had reached on a double, with a double of his own for a 6-2 lead setting the stage for the ninth inning.
Berta went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in, while McCullick, King and Landwehr all had two hits apiece. The middle of the Eagles' order struggled mightily as the fourth through seventh hitters combined to go 0-for-20 with 11 strikeouts. James Bertakis, who entered the game in the ninth took the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season. Cox picked up the win for the Pioneers.
Edgewood College will be back in action on Friday with an important doubleheader against Concordia University Chicago. The Eagles and Cougars are just a half game apart in the Northern Athletics Conference standings. Between games, the Eagles will honor their seven senior players, a senior manager and a senior student assistant coach as part of LSM Chiropractic Clinic Senior Day. The game can also be heard live on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com with Ben Larson calling the play-by-play action. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m.
