Baseball Burned by Firebirds

KENOSHA, Wis. – The CUW baseball team took the quick bus ride South to Carthage on Tuesday night to take on the Firebirds in a non-conference matchup.

The Falcons hopped out to a quick lead in the first five innings but dropped the ball at the back half of the matchup after giving up an 8-2 lead.

Senior Tristan Largent (Verona, Wis.) got the bats moving with a two-RBI double down the left-field line that scored the Janesville duo of seniors Johannes Haakenson and Sam Beers.

The Firebirds responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the first to tie the game at one.

The Falcons scored the lone run in the second inning off of the bat of senior Daniel Hahn (Cudahy, Wis.) with a single that scored junior Cole Aguirre (Chino Hills, Calif.).  

Sam Beers sent one deep with a pair on base with a home run to left field that brought in senior Sean Tillmon (Plainfield, Ill.) and freshman Will Sommers (Mount Prospect, Ill.).

Carthage cut the Falcon lead to four with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Senior Kyle Kosobucki (De Pere, Wis.) crossed the plate to start the fifth inning after a fielder's choice that saw Sommers safe at first. Sommers eventually crossed the plate as well to push the lead to 8-2 off the bat of Sean Tillmon.

The Firebirds responded in a big way with a ball that was crushed to right-center for a grand slam with two outs to cut the Falcon lead to two at 8-6. The Firebirds were the only ones to score in both the sixth and seventh innings as well with another home run in the bottom of the sixth that scored a pair as well as two more runs in the bottom of the seventh.

The Falcons stared an 8-10 deficit in the face as they headed into the eighth inning.

The Blue and White came out big in the eighth with senior Drew Johnson (Menasha, Wis.) getting things rolling with a double to left-center which moved Largent around the bases. 

Johnson crossed with a hot from Kosobucki who was later thrown out at second on the play.

The Falcons saw a few chances with runners in scoring position in the top of the ninth, but could not capitalize.

In the final frame, the Falcons pushed it to two outs with an eye on extras, but the Firebirds wanted nothing to do with it and launched one deep for a double to left-center to end the game with a final score of 10-11.

Freshman Benjamin Vorpahl (Sheboygan, Wis.) got the start for the Falcons and recorded six strikeouts in his three innings with only a single, unearned run.

Sam Beers led the Falcon offense with a 2-5 line that saw two runs and three RBIs.

The Falcons look to snap out of their bullpen slump Wednesday at Marian.