The baseball team began its defense of its 2010 Division 2 state championship with a doubleheader sweep of Kenosha St. Joseph to open the Midwest Classic Conference South season Tuesday in Kenosha. USM won the first game 13-1 and won the second game 8-2.
Junior Josh Baker led the Wildcats in the doubleheader. In the two games, Baker went 7 for 8, hit 2 doubles, and had 10 RBIs. He also was the starting pitcher for USM in the second game and struck out 8 Lancer batters in 3 innings of work.
In the first game, USM took the lead early, scoring 5 runs in the second inning. With one out sophomore Billy Lawton singled. Senior Jack Minahan followed with a single. Senior Ben Myers then walked to load the bases and sophomore Nishad Agrawal also walked to force in the first run. Junior Tommy Pennington walked forcing in another run. Then with two outs, Baker doubled to put the Wildcats up by 5 runs.
The Lancers scored their lone run in the bottom of the second. Senior Joe Pillizzi reached first on an error, and took second on another error. Sophomore Dale Henry singled to drive in Pillizzi.
USM added 5 more runs to its total in the top of the fourth. Agrawal walked with one out. Pennington doubled to score Agrawal. Pennington took third on a wild pitch. Junior Lane Stanford walked and stole second. With runners on second and third, Baker singled to drive in Agrawal and Pennington. Baker raced to third on a wild pick-off throw. Junior Nathan Burke promptly drove Baker home. Burke stole second and third; After another out, Lawton drove him home with a double.
USM scored its final 3 runs in the top of the fifth. Myers led off with a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. With one out Pennington reached first after being hit by a pitch. Junior Patrick Lubar, who had replaced Stanford in the batting order, singled to drive in Myers. Baker then hit his second double to end the game’s scoring. USM’s large lead allowed the game to come to a close at the end of the fifth inning.
In the game, Pennington was the winning pitcher while sophomore Tyler Salmons took the loss for St. Joseph. Henry had the only hit for the Lancers, going 1 for 2. Baker went 3 for 4 for the Wildcats with 2 doubles and 6 RBIs. Pennington was 1 for 1 with a double and 2 RBIs, and Lawton went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.
The second game was a home game for USM, and the Wildcats quickly took the lead in the bottom of the first. Pennington led off with a single. Stanford doubled and Pennington went to third. Baker stroked a single to score Pennington.
The Wildcats scored 3 more in the second inning. With two out, Pennington singled and stole second. Stanford then hit a dribbler down the third base line and beat the throw for an infield single. Baker singled to drive in Pennington and send Stanford to third. Baker stole second and he and Stanford scored on the catcher’s throwing error on the play.
The following three inning were quiet. Baker mowed down the lancer batters in the first three innings. Stanford came on to replace him and kept St. Joseph’s from scoring for the next three innings. Pillizzi kept the Wildcat bats quiet at the same time.
But St. Joseph couldn’t keep the Wildcat hitters caged up for long, and USM exploded for 4 runs in the top of the sixth. Lawton led off with a walk and Lubar dropped a sacrifice bunt to send Lawton to second. Myers was then hit by a pitch. With runners on first and second Agrawal dropped down a bunt and beat the throw to load the bases. Stanford drilled a line drive single to center field to score Lawton and Myers. Stanford took second on the throw to the plate. Baker then singled to score Stanford for USM’s eighth run.
The Lancers finally scored in the top of the seventh. With one out, junior Dan Jadrich reached first after being hit by a pitch. Junior James Battley singled, sending Jadrich to second. With two out, Pillizzi doubled to score Jadrich and Battley.
In the game Stanford was the winning pitcher and Pillizzi took the loss. Baker went 4 for 4 for the Wildcats. He had 4 RBIs and stole 4 bases. Stanford went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and Pennington went 2 for 4.
Kenosha St, Joseph is now 0-2 overall and 0-2 in the conference. USM has a 2-0 overall record and it is 2-0 in the conference. The Wildcats travel to Waupun on Saturday, April 9th for a tournament. They will play three games at Schlieve field. They take on Beloit Turner at 9 a.m. and the Medford Area team at 11 a.m. Their third game will be later on depending upon the outcome of the tournament’s first two rounds.
