Baseball unable to avoid big innings in loss to St. Norbert

MEQUON, Wis. – Both Concordia University Wisconsin and St. Norbert College had their offenses in full gear on Wednesday night as the Green Knights outslugged CUW for a 16-9 non-conference victory at Kapco Park. The loss was the sixth straight defeat for the Falcons.

St. Norbert used three big offensive innings to gain the non-conference victory as they plated five runs in the third and four each in the sixth and seventh innings. The eight combined runs in the sixth and seventh came after CUW tied the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the fifth inning.

SNC (19-7) built a 7-0 lead after two and a half innings of play, which included the five-run third. St. Norbert outfielder Nick Pierre had the big hit of the third inning when he roped a two-RBI double to right field.

The Falcons would answer back with seven unanswered runs as they plated three runs in the bottom of the third, one in the fourth and three more in the fifth inning. Sophomore Kyle Hegeman (New Berlin, Wis.) had a two-RBI triple in the fifth inning and CUW tied the game when junior Jay Kuczynski (Cedarburg, Wis.) bunted for a single, scoring Hegeman. Senior Daniel Mueller (West Bend, Wis.) had a bases clearing double in the third for the Falcons.

St. Norbert would not let the score remain tied for long as they pushed across eight runs over the next two innings, building a 15-9 lead after seven complete. The Green Knights would add one in the eighth as they went on to the 16-9 victory.

The Falcons (10-19) were led by four players who tallied two hits, including Mueller who drove in a team-best four runs. Also adding two hits were sophomore Joel Sharon (Glendale, Wis.), Hegeman and Kuczynski. St. Norbert was led by the duo of Troy Rottier and Alex Larsen as each played finished with a game-best three hits. Rottier scored three times from the leadoff spot, while Larsen drove in four.

Nate Schadrie picked up the win in relief for St. Norbert as he pitched 1.1 innings. Freshman Tyler Gross (Wauwatosa, Wis.) took the loss for CUW, pitching 2.2 innings in relief.

CUW will return to Kapco Park tomorrow for a non-conference doubleheader against Cardinal Stritch University. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. and both games are scheduled as seven inning contests.