CARDINAL STRITCH UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

St. Louis, Mo. – The Cardinal Stritch University baseball team opened up their season on Saturday against Harris Stowe State University. The Wolves saw strong pitching and offense in the match-up and will use the win as a springboard this season. Tyler Martin (Pekin, Ill.) picked up his first win of the year in game one, 4-3. Harris Stowe came back in the 7th inning to earn the 6-5 win over Stritch.

Tyler Martin took the mound for the Wolves in the first game, holding the Hornets scoreless through three innings. Harris Stowe scored first, capitalizing on a walk to Travis Parker (O’Fallon, Mo.). The senior stole second and third, before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Jon Harvey (St. Louis, Mo.) that put the Hornets up 1-0.

Stritch responded in the top of the fifth, scoring Jacob Lark (Germantown, Wis.) and Austin James (Milwaukee, Wis.) on a double by Dean Mlachnik (Muskego, Wis.). The Hornets came back to tie the game, 2-2, taking advantage of a Wolves error. A single by Nick Berding (Affton, Mo.) became a double after a throwing error by Andy Abromaitis (Oak Creek, Wis.). Sean Zullo (Columbia, Mo.) singled up the middle to score Berding before the Wolves were able to get out of the inning.

The remainder of the scoring happened in the seventh inning, as the Wolves were able to use two errors by Harris Stowe to bring in two. James reached on an error and advanced to second for Lark. The junior reached on an error by the Hornets’ right fielder and was able to get to around to third, as James crossed home plate to give Stritch the lead. Looking for a little insurance, Stritch sent Mlachnik to the plate, and he came through again with a single to right, earning his third RBI of the game and giving the Wolves a two run lead.

An error by John Bahm (Justice, Ill.) allowed Harvey to reach base, and eventually score on a Marcos Marrero (Fairfield, Cal.) double. Marrero soon found himself on third base with two outs, bringing Zullo to the plate with two outs. The center fielder couldn’t come through for the Hornets, and his groundout gave Stritch their first win of the year, 4-3.

Martin earned the win, pitching all seven innings. The senior gave up only three hits and one earned run. Mlachnik led the way offensively, recording three RBI and three hits. Both Lark and James scored twice in the win.

The Wolves got off to a great start in game two, giving themselves a comfortable lead. Mike Ploch (Burlington, Wis.) and James both walked to start the first inning. They both moved into scoring position on a wild pitch by Josh Manning (Desoto, Mo.), before coming around to score on a double to left center by Lark. Lark moved to third on a groundout by Mlachnik before Abromaitis earned his first RBI of the season, scoring Lark on a single to center to give the Wolves a 3-0 advantage.

Harris Stowe attacked pitcher Jason Calvert (Milwaukee, Wis.) in the second inning, using four hits to score two runs. Calvert was able to regroup in the third, getting three quick outs to get the Wolves bats another go. Micah Thompson (North Prairie, Wis.) got the ball rolling for Stritch in the fourth with a single and then reached second on a passed ball. Dean Backman (Whitewater, Wis.) stepped in to pinch hit for Ploch with two outs and brought Thompson home with a double to right center.

Stritch bats stayed hot in the fifth as Lark doubled and scored on a grounder by Bahm to put the Wolves up by two runs. But it was Harris Stowe that won the inning, scoring two while forcing Calvert off the hill after giving up eight hits. The senior was replaced by Steve Lenski (Milwaukee, Wis.), who forced the Hornets into two quick ground outs, but couldn’t keep the runners on the field.

Stritch couldn’t get anything going offensively in the sixth and Harris Stowe tied it up at 5-5 on a solo shot over the right field fence by Zullo.

With the score still even Parker led off the seventh inning with a double up the middle for the Hornets. He advanced to third on a groundout before Lenski intentionally walked clean-up batter Jon Wilson (St. Charles, Mo.) to get to Harvey. The designated hitter didn’t disappoint, scoring Parker on a walk-off single to give Harris Stowe the 6-5 win.

Lenski gets the loss after pitching two innings. He gave up two runs on three hits while striking out two. Lark had the hot bat in game two. The left fielder recorded two hits, two RBI, and two runs scored. Thompson also contributed two hits and scored once.

After their first weekend of play the Wolves are 1-1 overall. They play another double header tomorrow, Feb. 28, against Harris Stowe. The games are slated to begin at 12:00 p.m.