V-Hawks Cap Series with Dominant Win

RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The Viterbo University Baseball team went 1-2 against Mayville State University (ND) in a triple header on Saturday. The Comets took the first two, 4-3 and 9-1, before Viterbo took the final match, 8-0. The V-Hawks now sit at 8-32 (7-9 NSAA) on the year, while the Comets are 11-27 (6-9 NSAA).

The Comets would take the first lead of the game with a pair of runs scored on two hits and two V-Hawk errors in the top of the first. Kyle Sontag's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second brought in Garrett Heying to get Viterbo on the board. And Heying's RBI single in the third evened the score at 2-2. MSU took back the advantage with a two RBI single in the fifth, but the V-Hawks responded again, scoring a run on a Blake Warner RBI single. However, the V-Hawks stranded baserunners in both the sixth and seventh, losing, 3-4.

Warner was 2-of-4 for the V-Hawks with an RBI. Two Comets recorded two hits. Brandon Jaenke (L, 2-7) struck out eight batters in 5.0 IP, while Austin McClure (W, 2-2) had four in 4.0 IP.

The second game of the day saw the Comets score in the top of the first, but that was matched by a Blake Warner RBI single bringing in Brett Stuessel. The Comets kept the pressure on, adding two more runs in the second on two hits, and four more in the fifth. The V-Hawks did not manage to add another baserunner until the bottom of the seventh, when they were behind 9-1, and they would leave a Chad Herrera stranded on second.

Stuessel and Warner recorded the hit hits for the V-Hawks, while Carson Lundmark was 3-of-3 for the Comets. Jake Ouweneel (L, 0-7) recorded three strikeouts, and Derek Palmiere (W, 2-4) recorded the complete game win.

The final game started with a Warner RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first to get the V-Hawks on the board, and Viterbo added to the lead with a two RBI sac bunt from Gavin Daniel in the second. Blake Warner kept the hot bats going in the third, launching a two-run home run that brought in Spencer Hans. Stuessel added a sacrifice fly RBI which scored Chad Herrera in the fourth, and both Daniel and Heying made it home on a Herrera single in the fifth. Taylor Claman recorded the final hit of the game for Viterbo in the sixth, a single to left field.

Six different V-Hawks recorded a hit, and Warner led the way with three RBIs. Three Comets posted hits as well. Cale Beckman (W, 2-4) struck out six batters in the complete game win, while Connor Cory (L, 1-6) recorded the loss.

The V-Hawks return to action on Tuesday, April 16 at Clarke University (Iowa).