MADISON, WISC. - A fairly normal day of baseball took a dramatic turn to towards unbelievable when sophomore Cade Bunnell hit home runs in three consecutive at bats to help the Madison College baseball team finish off a sweep of Sauk Valley Community College on Sunday. The final home doubleheader of the regular season at Robin Roberts finished with the WolfPack earning wins of 10-4 and 11-1, with the finale ending in six innings. It was also Sophomore Day for the the 'Pack, which said goodbye to 16 second year players.

Game #1: Madison College 10, Sauk Valley Community College 4

Trailing 3-2 after the third inning, Madison College exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a commanding 10-3 lead. The inning featured eight hits, highlighted by a two-run double from freshman Tanner Umentum and a three-run homer by sophomore Chris Lund to cap the scoring. 

The WolfPack tallied their first run of the day in the first inning when Lund drove in Logan Michaels with a single to right. After falling behind 3-1 in the third, the 'Pack got one run back in the home half of the inning with sophomore Kian O'Brien, playing in his first game since being injured April 1, recorded an RBI ground out that plated Drew Steinmetz.

Riley Pawelski (3-0) made his first career start and held the Skyhawks to three unearned runs on four hits. The South Beloit, Illinois, native struck out six and walk one over five innings on the hill. Chase Scharnek and Connor Fedders each worked an inning in relief.

Lund, a product of Stoughton High School, finished 3-for-4 with a season-high four runs batted in. The home run is his second of the season and fifth of his career. Three others enjoyed multi-hit efforts, including Michaels, who went 2-for-3 with a team-leading two runs scored. O'Brien and Umentum each posted two RBI.

Game #2: Madison College 11, Sauk Valley Community College 1 (6 innings)

Game two also featured a big fourth inning that was the start of a record-setting performance for another player coming back from injury. Cade Bunnell, who played both games Saturday at South Suburban College on Saturday after missing three weeks with a leg injury, opened the scoring in the third inning with a solo home run just the right of the Robin Roberts scoreboard in centerfield.

The long balls kept coming in the fourth. After Sage Bruhl lead off with a single, Nick Blomgren smashed his second home run of the season to make it 3-0. Four batters later and with two runners on, Bunnell smashed a three-run jack just to the right of the Robin Roberts scoreboard in centerfield. The 'Pack tacked on two more runs with a run-scoring double by Bryce Plate and another single off Bruhl's bat that brought Plate home.

Following a Sauk Valley (6-29) solo home run in the top of the fifth, Bunnell came to the plate with a chance to make history in the bottom half. With one on and two out, the Stoughton, Wisconsin, native hit a 2-2 pitch just to the right of the Robin Roberts scoreboard in centerfield for a program record-tying third home run in one game - and in successive at bats. (Brent Kakwitch hit three home runs against Kirkwood Community College on April 14, 2010.)

The game ended in the sixth when sophomore Zach Bailey was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs to force Caleb Hurt and end the game via run rule.

Bunnell, a transfer from Kansas State University, was 3-for-4 with a career-best six RBI and a team-leading three runs scored. He now has four home runs on the season to lead Madison College. Chase Scharnek also went 3-for-4, while Michaels and Bruhl posted two-hit games. O'Brien had two runs scored and Blomgren knocked in a pair.

On the hill, Garrett McGraw (2-1) made his third start of the year and struck out six, while holding opposing hitters to three hits and a run. Riley Pelischek tossed a scoreless inning in relief as the WolfPack improved their win streak over SVCC to 11 straight.

(For what it's worth, former Stoughton Vikings were a combined 6-for-10 with four home runs, ten RBI, and four runs scored.)

Up next: 

Madison College, which finished the regular season with a 31-16 record overall and 25-10 in the region, will host Carl Sandburg College (27-21/19-16) in a best-of-three Region IV Sectional series on May 13-14 at Robin Roberts Field. The #4-seed WolfPack and the #5-seed Chargers split doubleheader in Galesburg, Illinois, on April 9. Madison College lost the opener 10-9 before taking the nightcap 8-2. The loss snapped an eight-game win streak in the all-time head-to-head series, which the WolfPack own a 9-1 lead in. Game one will begin at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, to be followed by game two at approximately 3:00 p.m. If necessary, a winner-take-all game three will be played on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. The winner advances to the Region IV Division II Tournament, May 19-21, at the site of the highest remaining seed.

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