Firebirds Snap Baseball's Win Streak

KENOSHA, Wis. – The CUW baseball team journeyed south to face the 10-3 Firebirds of Carthage College, a squad the Falcons had encountered just 20 days earlier in Tucson, Arizona.

Despite looking to extend their win streak to five games, the Falcons ultimately fell short, 9-3, dropping their record to 7-8 overall. 

Carthage drew first blood in the bottom of the first to secure a 1-0 lead. 

But the Falcons would level the score at 1-1 in the top of the second.

Senior Jimmy Juergensen drew a walk to lead off the inning, while sophomore Matt Miller (Fredonia, Wis.) advanced Juergensen to third with a single to right field. 

With runners on the corners, sophomore Tyler Murray (Kankakee, Ill.) shelled a ground ball up the middle, hitting the Carthage pitcher before ricocheting to shortstop, scoring Juergensen.

But Carthage would gradually extend their lead, enjoying a 5-1 lead after four innings of play.  

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Falcons stopped Carthage's momentum behind the pitching of junior Benjamin Vorpahl (Sheboygan, Wis.), who struck out all three batters he faced.

Vorpahl continued to deal in the top of the sixth inning as he put together a 1-2-3 inning, forcing three groundouts and bringing the Blue and White back up to bat. 

The Falcons would inch closer to Carthage's four-run lead in the top of the seventh inning. 

Sophomore Kyle Flynn (Nashville, Tenn.) led off the inning by reaching base via a walk before reaching home courtesy of a hit to left field from freshman Ryan Le (Orland Park, Ill.), putting the score at 5-2. 

On cue, however, were the Firebirds as they once again responded with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh. 

But CUW showed no quit, as Jimmy Juergensen swung on a first-pitch fastball that went deep to right field for a solo home run in the top of the eighth to cut the score to 7-3.

Carthage would again score two runs in the bottom of the eighth to eventually win 9-3 over CUW. 

In his fourth appearance of the season, senior Ben Spiers (Waukesha, Wis.) pitched four complete innings, recording six groundouts, five flyouts, and one strikeout.  

Meanwhile, junior Chris Rooney (Mundelein, Ill.) faced nine batters and recorded three strikeouts in his first appearance of the season. 

Kyle Flynn drew a game-high three walks, while Ryan Le, Jimmy Juergensen, and Tyler Murray all had an RBI in the effort. 

The Falcons will have the opportunity to move above .500 as they take on a conference opponent in the Muskies of Lakeland in a doubleheader. The first pitch is slated for Wednesday at noon.