PLYMOUTH – St. Norbert College used a pair of late rallies to gain a doubleheader sweep of Lakeland University in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference action at Muskie Baseball Field.
The Green Knights took the two games by scores of 11-9 in 10 innings and 2-0.
St. Norbert entered the ninth inning of the opener trailing 9-8 and looked in dire straits when the first two hitters were retired, but
Jake Lucas hit a solo home run to right field to keep the Green Knights alive and eventually force extra innings.
The Green Knights moved ahead when
A.J. Kisting's (pictured) one-out double in the 10th plated
Levi Crosswell, with
Devin Geary's double then bringing around Kisting for a two-run lead.
Jace Midbon then struck out the side in the bottom half of the frame to lock up the win and earn his third save of the season.
St. Norbert opened the game with a big five-run second inning, scoring on a two-run single by
Carson Krumrei and a two-run triple by Kisting, who then scored on a Lakeland error. The Muskies would respond with two runs in the second inning and four more in the third inning to take a 6-5 edge. The Green Knights scored once in the fifth on an RBI double by Lucas and one more in the sixth on Geary's infield single for a 7-6 lead.
Lakeland would get the two runs back in the bottom of the sixth, but the Green Knights tied it at 8-8 on Kisting's RBI double in the top of the eighth. The Muskies would take a short-lived lead with a single run in the bottom of the eighth.
Kisting was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and four runs batted in, including two doubles and a triple. Lucas was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, including a home run and double.
Levi Crosswell was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Krumrei was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two runs batted in. Geary finished 2-for-6 with three runs batted in.
Dylan Heier worked the bottom of the ninth to earn the win, striking out one.
Cooper Dykes worked 3 2/3 innings of long relief, allowing two hits and two runs, while
Noah Chmielewski worked two innings and allowed two hits and one run.
St. Norbert and Lakeland locked up in a pitcher's duel in the nightcap, with the game staying scoreless until the ninth inning. Krumrei led off the top of the ninth with a walk and was sacrificed to second base.
Levi Crosswell's single through the right side brought around Krumrei, with Crosswell going to second base on the throw to the plate. A Lakeland error then scored Crosswell for a 2-0 lead. Midbon then worked around an error and walk to work a scoreless ninth inning for his second save of the day.
The Green Knights finished with six hits in Game 2, with
Dawson Schmidt going 3-for-4. Crosswell finished 2-for-4 with a double and the game's lone run batted in.
Jason Schroeder worked the first six innings, striking out six. Heier worked 1 1/3 innings and
Kyle Olson followed with 2/3 of an inning, with Olson getting credited with the win.
