Ploch recorded three hits and four RBI against the Trolls
Palos Heights, Ill. – The Cardinal Stritch University Wolves came close to two wins on Saturday, but late inning bursts for the Trinity Christian College Trolls changed the game. Big innings for TCC gave them the games, and they took both, 7-5 and 8-7, to earn the sweep.
The Wolves got off to a strong start in game one. Tyler Martin (Pekin, Ill.) gave up one run in the first inning, but soon found his stroke and made quick work of the Trolls through the fourth. The Wolves responded in the first, using a single by Andy Abromaitis (Oak Creek, Wis.) to bring in Mike Ploch (Burlington, Wis.). The bottom of the Stritch order came through in the second inning. Lucas Simon (Fond du Lac, Wis.) led off with a single before Micah Thompson (North Prairie, Wis.) drew a walk and
Kyle Trewyn (Whitewater, Wis.) was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. A wild pitch brought Simon in to score and then Cody Tesch (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) came through with a two RBI single, giving the Wolves a 4-1 lead.
Martin began to struggle in the fifth and the Trolls used four hits to tie the game. After two more hits and two more runs, Martin was replaced with Troy Engibous (Muskego, Wis.), who managed to close out the inning with the Wolves down 6-4. Stritch fought back to within one when Phil Cook (Milwaukee, Wis.) doubled in Simon in the sixth, but TCC matched the Wolves’ production, taking advantage of a one out walk.
Stritch entered the final inning down 5-7. Dean Mlachnik (Muskego, Wis.) led off the inning with a bunt single, but the Trolls quickly shut the Wolves down for the win.
Martin gets the loss for the Wolves. Ploch went 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Tesch led with two RBI in the loss.
The Wolves got another good start from Justin Cooper (Watertown, Wis.), who took the mound in game two against TCC. The junior gave up only two hits and one earned run in the first five innings, while the Wolves’ offense went to work. Dean Backman (Whitewater, Wis.) led off the second inning with a solo homerun. Tesch, Thompson, Trewyn, and Ploch each singled in the inning to bring in two more and give Stritch a 3-2 lead. The Wolves put three more on the board in the next two innings, two unearned, and took a 6-2 lead into the sixth.
Cooper’s dominance was lost in the sixth inning, as the Trolls figured him out and scored four runs on four hits to tie the game, 6-6. A scoreless seventh forced the game into extra innings.
Stritch managed to score in the top of the eighth, using singles by Thompson and John Bahm (Justice, Ill.) and a grounder by Ploch to take a 7-6 lead. But the single run wasn’t enough for the win, as a two out error by the Wolves in the bottom of the eighth allowed TCC to score two runs and walk away with the 8-7 win.
Simon, who relieved Cooper in the seventh, is credited with the loss. Ploch, Abromaitis, and Thompson each recorded two hits and run scored in the match-up. Ploch led with two RBI.
The Wolves fall to 12-23 overall and 6-11 in the CCAC. They will face Calumet St. Joseph in a make-up game on Sunday, Apr. 18. The game will be played at WCTC in Pewaukee, Wis. and is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.