Baseball splits NACC series with IIT

CHICAGO, Ill. – The Falcons split a road doubleheader with the Scarlet Hawks on Sunday as Concordia Wisconsin lost game one 5-4 before getting a 5-4 win of their own over Illinois Tech in game two.

THE BASICS
-Final Score: IIT 5, CUW 4 | CUW 5, IIT 4
-Records: CUW 15-17 (11-9 NACC), IIT 16-19 (8-10 NACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
-In game one, the Scarlet Hawks jumped ahead 4-0 by the end of the second inning.
-Tyler Haffey (Mount Prospect, Ill.) and Austen Dart (Algoma, Wis.) each had two RBI for the Falcons. Haffey drove in his runs with an RBI single down the left field line in the third and with a bases-loaded walk in the seventh. Dart drove in both of his runs with an RBI single to right field later in the seventh.
-Lukas Meerdink (Oostburg, Wis.) continued his recent dominance on the pitching mound for the Falcons in the second game of the day. The senior got the win by striking out 10 and allowing no earned runs. In his last three starts, Meerdink has not allowed an earned run in 24.1 innings pitched while striking out 31 over those three games.
-Eight different Falcons had a hit in game two of the series.
-Haffey got the scoring started with an RBI double in the top of the first. Dillan Fike (Oak Lawn, Ill.) followed with an RBI single to right that scored Haffey.
-In the fifth, Dart hit his second home run of the season with a solo shot over the right-field wall.
-Christian Gerner (Mequon, Wis.) drove in the final two runs for the Falcons. The sophomore had RBI singles in both the sixth and eighth innings for CUW, driving in the game-deciding run with his single up the middle in the eighth.
-Beau Wills (Coal City, Ill.) got his sixth save of the season in the win.

UP NEXT
-The Falcons face St. Norbert in a doubleheader at Kapco Park on Wednesday, May 1, starting at 4pm.