RIVER GROVE, ILL. - The Madison College baseball team earned a split of a road doubleheader at North Central Community College Conference foe Triton College on Tuesday, falling a run shy in a 3-2 loss in the opener before exploding for a 17-2 thrashing in five innings in the nightcap. The 17 runs and 16 hits in the second game both set season highs for the #2 WolfPack, who snapped a mini two-game losing streak to win their third league game.
Game #1: Triton College 3, Madison College 2 (7 innings)The homestanding Trojans struck first in the opener of the twin bill, turning a leadoff single against starter
Derek Heffel into a 1-0 lead. The Triton centerfielder advanced on back-to-back groundouts and then scored on a wild pitch.
Madison College tallied a pair of runs to grab the lead in the top of the fourth, using two hits and an error.
Kian O'Brien started the frame with a walk, and after a dropped strike three allowed
Bryce Plate to reach, the Wolfpack had runners at the corners with two outs. Freshman first baseman
Ty Jandrowski took advantage with an infield single, driving in O'Brien. During the play, the Triton shortstop committed a throwing error, allowing Plate to come all the way around and score.
The lead didn't last long, with the Trojans tying it at two in the bottom half, again scoring on a wild pitch that followed a passed ball between Heffel and catcher
Kian O'Brien. The WolfPack fell behind for good in the fifth when successive walks and a single made it 3-2.
Madison College registered just one hit the rest of the game, settling for six total - which turned out to be one more than Triton. Jandrowski and
Simon Maurice each went 2-for-3.
Drew Steinmetz and
Ryan Makuski had the remaining hits.
Derek Heffel (2-2) went six innings allowed three runs, only two of which were earned, on five hits. He struck out four and walked two, but finished with a pair of costly wild pitches.
Game #2: Madison College 17, Triton College 2 (5 innings)Madison College brought the heavy lumber out in the second game to set season highs for runs and hits. Six different WolfPack batters finished with multiple hits, led by three a piece for
Ryan Makuski,
Nate Schmidt, and
Drew Steinmetz. Makuski scored a season- and team-high four runs.
Chris Lund crossed the plate three times, while four others did so twice. In the RBI department, Schmidt drove in a season- and team-high four, doing most of the damage with a second-inning long ball. Steinmetz finished with three RBI and three others had two.
The scoring opened in the first with first, when Makuski scored on a Triton College (9-8, 3-1) error and Steinmetz smashed a bases-clearing double to center to make it 4-0. After a two-spot in the home half, the WolfPack went right back to work in the second with four more runs. With two outs on the board, O'Brien singled in Makuski and two batters later Schmidt went yard to left field for a three-run homer to make it 8-0. It's the transfer freshman's first career home run and he becomes the fifth player to hit one this season.
The four-run innings continued in the third thanks to six hits, and again they all came with two outs. Half of the hits went for extra bases as Makuski, O'Brien, and
Chris Lund double in three-straight at bats.
The game ended in the fifth via run rule when Madison College went one run better with a five spot to close it out. With the bases juiced and two outs,
Nick Kanavas singled in
Carson Carmody; Makuski drew a walk to plate Steinmetz;
Tanner Van De Hey scored on a wild pitch; Kanavas touched home on an error; and
Chris Lund brought in Makuski with a single to left.
Starter
Clayton Uselman (1-0) closed out the win by striking out the final batter looking, and with a runner at third. The southpaw from Johnson Creek, Wisconsin, surrendered just four hits and two unearned runs in five innings. He finished with three strikeouts and faced just 20 batters to earn his first decision in four starts.
Madison College (8-10, 3-1) remains on the road for a doubleheader showdown with N4C leader College of DuPage (18-3, 4-0). First pitch in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, is slated for 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
