Pitching Pushes Falcons Past Warriors

MEQUON, Wis. – The Falcons continued to defend Kapco Park on Friday and moved to 6-1 at home this season as they swept the Warriors of Wisconsin Lutheran, 3-0 and 11-1.

With the win, the Falcons have won four of their last five contests and improved to 6-2 in the conference. The squad also moves above .500 at 11-10 overall.

The Falcons wasted no time taking the lead in game one, scratching two runs in the bottom of the first.

Senior Jack Owens (Chicago, Ill.) started the action by drawing, setting the stage for fellow senior Cole Aguirre (Chino Hills, Calif.), who delivered a hit up the middle to advance Owens to second.

The momentum continues in the following at-bat as junior Brynden Cleveland (Crestwood, Ill.) put a ball in play, leading to a WLC throwing error, allowing Owens to cross home plate for the game's first run.

The second run of the inning came from a wild pitch as Cleveland crossed home to earn CUW the 2-0 advantage.

With the Warriors looking to score their first run of the day, they sent a runner from second to home following a single to left field. But Brynden Cleveland came up firing from left field and, with a beautiful throw, gunned out the WLC base runner at home as junior Owen Burns (Morris, Ill.) applied the tag to get the Blue and White out of the jam.

CUW's defense continued to play well and limit the Warriors' scoring opportunities, as they headed into the bottom of the sixth with the same 2-0 lead.

But the flock would tack one run in the sixth as sophomore Tyler Murray (Kankakee, Ill.) doubled to the right field line for CUW's first baserunner of the inning. Sophomore Drake Grod (Mosniee, Wis.) then came in to pinch run for Murray and was eventually brought home by a double from freshman Ryan Le (Orland Park, Ill.) that was smoked down the line to boost CUW's lead to 3-0.

Guided by the stellar pitching of sophomore JT Hockers (Middleton, Wis.), the Falcons kept the visitors scoreless, bringing up the seventh inning, which saw freshman Alex Kuntz (Richfield, Wis.) come in for the save.

With the save opportunity, Kuntz had an efficient outing, going 1-2-3 in the seventh to secure the 3-0 victory in game one of the doubleheader.

Tyler Murray recorded two hits in the victory, including a single and a double, while Ryan Le also had a multi-hit performance and the lone CUW RBI.

Defensively, JT Hockers improved to 2-0 on the season, throwing six complete innings, striking out two batters, and allowing zero runs.

Meanwhile, Alex Kuntz tallied his second save of the year, solidifying the Falcons' victory.

Unlike the first game, the Warriors got on the board first, scoring a run in the top of the second for the 1-0 advantage.

But the Falcons would post a response at the bottom of the fourth, as Cole Aguirre drew a walk to lead off the inning, while Brynden Cleveland found a gap in left-center to score for a stand-up RBI double to level the score at 1-1.

Junior Luke Bruckner (Fon du Lac, Wis.) retired nine straight batters throughout the third, fourth, and fifth, keeping the game's score at 1-1.

After a quiet start, the Falcon's bats woke up in the bottom of the fifth inning, as senior Cody Maier (Mandan, N.D.) singled down the left field line to start the inning.

After an error on WLC, senior Sterling Armstrong (Lake Barrington, Ill.) had a sacrifice bunt to advance runs to third and second.

With runners in scoring position, freshman Connor Lasch (Chicago, Ill.) came up clutch and knocked a double down the right field line, scoring two.

Then, in the next at-bat, Jack Owens ripped a ball over the third baseman's head for a double down the left-field line, putting another CUW run on the board.

CUW's momentum continued to build as Brydnen Cleveland singled to opposite field, scoring Jack Owens.

The final run of the inning came from a wild pitch and put the Falcons up 6-1.

After a pair of scoreless innings behind Bruckner's pitching, the Blue and White added some insurance in the bottom of the seventh as senior Jimmy Juergensen (Cedarburg, Wis.) got a hold of one and turned on a pitch, sending it to deep right field for a double, scoring Brynden Cleveland who had a double in the previous at-bat.

Later in the inning, freshman Luke Heinkel (Brookfield, Wis.) brought in Juergensen on a sacrifice fly to deep left field, giving the Falcons a comfortable 8-1 lead.

Junior Chris Rooney (Mundelein, Ill.) came in for Brucker in the top of the eighth and kept the Warriors silent, maintaining CUW's seven-run lead.
The Falcons would put the final nail in the coffin in the eighth inning, scoring three runs and triggering the run rule.

The first two runs of the inning came from Cole Aguirre, who nuked one to left field for his second home run of the year. The final run, which secured the 11-1 run, came from sophomore Matt Miller (Fredonia, Wis.) and his sacrifice fly.

From the mound, Luke Bruckner went seven innings and recorded a career-high eight strikeouts for his first win of the season.

Meanwhile, Chris Rooney went one inning on 15 total pitches, giving up zero runs.

As a team, CUW had a season-high six doubles, while seven different Falcons recorded an RBI, with Aguirre, Cleveland, and Lasch each tallying two.

The Falcons will have a quick turnaround and will play the nationally ranked Spartans of Aurora tomorrow for another doubleheader.