Bahm led the Wolves with five hits on Saturday
New Albany, Ind. – It was a tough day to be a pitcher for the Cardinal Stritch University baseball team, who dropped two games on Saturday. The Wolves lost their first game of the day, 3-1, after Tyler Martin had a tough first inning that the offense couldn’t make up for. In game two the Stritch offense came alive, but the lack of control on the mound made coming back too difficult.
The Wolves faced Indiana Tech in game one and Tyler Martin (Pekin, Ill.) struggled to find control in the first inning, costing the Wolves three quick runs. After giving up a single to leadoff man, Gary King (Brownsburg, Ind.), Martin hit two consecutive batters to load the bases. King scored on a walk to Riley Muhlenkamp (Coldwater, Ohio), the Warriors clean-up hitter before Stritch recorded the first out of the inning on a pop up to second base. Indiana Tech scored again on a sacrifice fly to right by Paul McIntosh (Navato, Cal.). The Wolves had an opportunity to get out of the inning down only by two, but third baseman Micah Thompson (North Prairie, Wis.) wasn’t able to convert for out number three, and Hoisington, who was hit by a pitch to reach base, scored the third run of the first inning.
The Wolves responded quickly, as John Bahm (Justice, Ill.) led off with a single in the top of the second. Thompson came to the plate with two outs and one on and shot a single through the left side, bringing short stop, Tyler Henkel (Rhinelander, Wis.) to the plate. Henkel singled to right field, bringing Bahm in and shrinking the Warriors lead to two runs.
Martin gave up only one more hit the entire game, while the Wolves added three more hits, but couldn’t string them together to put any more runs on the scoreboard. The game ended 3-1, Warriors, though the Wolves out hit Indiana Tech, 6-2.
The loss goes to Martin, who gave up just two hits in 6 innings. The senior recorded three walks and hit three batters that came back to haunt the Wolves. Martin moves to 1-1 on the season.
Bahm and Henkel each recorded two hits in the matchup, while Henkel earned the only Wolves RBI.
Daniel Puckett (Anderson, Ind.) earned the win for Indiana Tech after giving up six hits and one run in 5.2 innings. Zach Brown (Indianappolis, Ind.) closed out the game for the Warriors and gets credit for the save.
In their second game of the day, the Wolves took on Indiana University Southeast. Austin James (Milwaukee, Wis.) got things started immediately with a single to right field. Henkel soon took his place with a grounder to the shortstop, as the Grenadiers were unable to turn the double play. Bahm, staying hot after the first game, singled through the left side to bring up third baseman Dean Mlachnik (Muskego, Wis.). Another single loaded the bases for Jacob Lark (Germantown, Wis.), who earned his first RBI of the day, getting hit by a pitch to bring in Henkel. A groundout to the first baseman by Andy Abromaitis (Oak Creek, Wis.) scored Mike Ploch (Burlington, Wis.), pinch running for Bahm, to give the Wolves a 2-0
lead after one half inning.
Jason Calvert (Milwaukee, Wis.) made it through the first inning unscathed for the Wolves, but was unable to do so in the second. Calvert gave up six hits, a walk, and hit a batter before Coach Zolecki replaced him with Phil Cook (Milwaukee, Wis.). But the damage was done and the Wolves fell behind 6-2.
The Wolves’ comeback began in the very next inning, as a single by Abromaitis scored Mlachnik to pull within three runs of IUS. But pitching was a problem for Stritch once again, as Cook gave up two free bases, hitting Nick Crady (Louisville, Ky.) and walking Chris Conner (Cinncinnati, Ohio). Crady eventually scored, widening the Grenediers lead back to four.
Thompson got things started for Stritch in the 4th with a single to through the left side. Andy Klein (Cudahy, Wis.) followed with a walk and James bunted for a hit, scoring Thompson and moving Klein to third. Henkel then singled, scoring Klein and forcing IU Southeast to pull Alex Brewer (North Vernon, Ind.) from the mound. The Wolves managed one more run in the inning, as James scored on a wild pitch to bring make the score 6-7.
Troubles on the hill continued, as Cook hit yet another player after giving up a single to Daniel McDonald (Louisville, Ky.). McDonald later scored on a groundout to put the Grenediers back up by two.
Dean Backman (Whitewater, Wis.) took advantage of IUS miscues in the fifth, reaching base on an error by their catcher and continuing around the bases. Backman took both third base and home on wild pitches as Josh Burkett (Louisville, Ky.) struggled with his control. The Grenediers got the run back in their half of the inning, however, as Conner scored on a double by Jordan Pass (Louisville, Ky.).
Henkel, Bahm, Mlachnik, and Lark teamed up for one more run in the sixth, minimizing the lead to one run, 8-9. Steve Lenski (Milwaukee, Wis.) got two quick outs in the bottom of the sixth before giving up a single to Jeff Klump (Haubstadt, Ind.). Klump stole second to put himself in scoring position and the
Wolves made the decision to intentionally walk Baird Hall (Shelbyville, Ky.), who had yet to have a hit. Instead, Lenski faced Crady, who earned his second hit and second RBI of the day to give the Grenediers an 10-8 lead.
The Wolves offense ran out of steam in the seventh inning and IU Southeast walked away with the 10-8 win.
Stritch had their strongest game at the plate all season, recording 13 hits as a team. They were led by Bahm, who had three, while four Wolves had two apiece (James, Henkel, Mlachnik, and Thompson). Lark and Abromaitis each earned two RBI in the matchup.
The Wolves fall to 1-5 with Saturday’s losses. They are slated to play both Indiana Tech and IU Southeast again tomorrow, Mar. 7. Stritch will face the Grenediers first, at 9:30 a.m.