Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)
VERONA, Wis. - The Edgewood College baseball team seized an opportunity to move up the Northern Athletics Conference standings, with an emphatic doubleheader sweep over Concordia University Wisconsin on Senior Day at Stampfl Field. The Eagles rallied from an early three-run deficit to win the opener 6-5, before blowing the Falcons away 17-2 in the second game.
Edgewood College (24-12, 14-5 NAC) pushed one run across in the first inning when Tim Barry lobbed a single down the right field line to score Treye Dennison from second base. However, the Falcons responded with two runs in both the second and third innings to claim a 4-1 lead. Concordia Wisconsin starter Derrick Pankow seemed to be getting stronger, striking out seven Eagles in the first three innings.
The complexion of the game, and the entire doubleheader, changed in the Eagle half of the fourth inning. Steve Binder led off with a ringing double off the left field fence, which seem to awaken the Eagle bats. Mike Selvaggi followed with a booming home run into the pine trees in left center field and Edgewood College started to roll. Andrew King and Mitch Mogensen rapped back-to-back singles and moved over to third on Scott Ortega's sacrifice bunt. Dennison then drove in the tying run with an RBI groundout.
Jimy Landwehr put the Eagles ahead for good on the first pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning. Landwehr smoked a line drive to right center field which cleared the wall for his second home run of the season. The Eagles added an insurance run they would desperately need in the sixth. Ortega singled to lead off the inning and moved over to third on Dennison's sacrifice. He alertly moved up to third on Ryan Walker's fly out to right field which put him in position to score when Pankow uncorked a wild pitch to Landwehr.
When the Eagle bats began hitting, starting pitcher Matt Krueger started to get better. He escaped the fourth inning with a double play and then set the Falcons down in order in the next three innings. Concordia Wisconsin (17-12, 11-5 NAC) would score a run in the eighth on an RBI groundout, but Krueger would shut the door with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth inning. Krueger threw his fourth consecutive complete game victory and sixth of the season to improve to 6-1. Krueger struck out four batters and walked just one.
Binder was the Eagles' top hitter in game one, going 3-for-4 with a double. Landwehr, Barry, King and Mogensen had two hits apiece. Eight of the nine Eagles in the lineup recorded a hit off of Falcons' ace Pankow.
The nightcap was nothing like the opener. Edgewood College jumped all over Concordia Wisconsin pitcher Brent Behling in the second inning, scoring five runs on four hits. Selvaggi delivered a two-run single to get the scoring going. The inning could have been bigger as the Eagles left the bases loaded.
From that point on, the Eagles scored multiple runs in each inning, taking an 8-0 lead after three and an 11-1 lead after four. In the fourth inning, the big blow was leadoff hitter Dennison's three-run home run. His huge blast to left center field was the first home run of his career. Walker drove in two more runs with a double in the gap in the fifth inning, and the Eagles tacked on four more in the sixth against the Falcons' bullpen.
Freshman pitcher Blake O'Brien had a streak of 21 consecutive scoreless innings spoiled by Adam Martz's solo home run in the fourth, but still threw his third consecutive complete game victory and improved to 5-1 on the season. O'Brien gave up 10 hits, but just one earned run and struck out six in the game which was shortened to seven innings by the 10-run rule.
Dennison had three hits and three RBIs all on his home run to lead the Edgewood College hitting attack. Walker was 2-for-3 with a double and three runs batted in. Barry and Selvaggi each went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Binder went to 2-for-3 to cap a 5-for-7 day.
With the wins, Edgewood College vaults themselves, at least temporarily, into sole possession of second place in the Northern Athletics Conference. At 14-5, the Eagles trail only Rockford College who stands at 15-3. The Eagles also inched closer to clinching a berth in the four-team NAC Tournament, lowering their magic number to clinch a spot to three with three NAC games left to play.
The Eagles next game will be a non-conference tilt at UW-Platteville on Tuesday afternoon.
