DIXON, ILL. - With advantageous weather south of the Illinois-Wisconsin border, the Madison College baseball team made a snap decision over the weekend to makeup Thursday's postponed doubleheader at Sauk Valley Community College on Sunday, March 8, and it turned out to be a tremendous decision. The WolfPack rolled to two run-rule victories, taking game one 14-1 and game two 12-1, both in five innings. The wins bring the 'Pack back to .500 on the season at 10-10 overall and increase their current win streak against the Skyhawks to 13 consecutive games.

Game #1: Madison College 14, Sauk Valley Community College 1 (5 innings)

Madison College jumped out to a 9-0 lead with a monster first inning that saw 14 batters come to the plate and the WolfPack tally four hits, six walks, and a hit by pitch. Back-to-back bases on balls forced in the game's first two runs, followed by run-producing singles from freshmen Jerry LaSaint and Jarrett Scheelk, the latter of which scored two runs to make it 5-0. Three additional walks brought in easy runs and an error by SVCC allowed the final run of the frame score. The Skyhawks lone run came in the second, but Madison College made up for it with a three-run third. Nathan Aide singled in Logan Michaels ahead of Scheelks second two-RBI double in as many at-bats for a 12-1 advantage. For good measure the WolfPack added two final runs in the fourth with Nick Gile hitting a leadoff home run to left and Scheelk grounding into a fielder's choice that made it 14-1.

Scheelk, native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, went 2 for 4 with a career-best five runs batted in and another run scored. Fellow freshman Gile and Aide also put up impressive numbers. Gile went 1 for 2 with a career-best three runs scored and three runs batted in, a mark he has attained in back-to-back games. Madison College finished with ten hits and ten walks.

Overshadowed by the monster offensive output was a third consecutive impressive outing from second year arm Matt Hamilton (4-0). The Oak Creek, Wisconsin, product tossed four innings of two hit baseball and allowed one unearned run. He also struck out three. In his last three outings, Hamilton has logged 16 innings, allowed nine hits and zero earned runs, and has 11 strikeouts. Freshman Nolan Rebernick pitched the final inning with one K and one hit on his statline.

Game #2: Madison College 12, Sauk Valley Community College 1 (5 innings)

Game two started in the exact same fashion as game one with Madison College opening the contest with another nine-run inning as 13 batters produced three hits, six walks, and two hit batters. Freshman Jerry LaSaint singled in two runs and sophomore Logan Michaels cleared the bases with a three-RBI double to left to cap the inning. The other four runs came courtesy of a free pass to first with the bases loaded. Sauk Valley Community College (4-5, 4-5 in Region IV) did get one run back in the home half of the first against starter Tyler Strzelczyk when two of the first three batters hit singles. Madison College made it 11-1 with two more runs in the second thanks to some poor throwing by the Skyhawks. The final run came in the third on a fielder's choice ground ball from Jon-Anthony Caban.

The WolfPack amassed just six hits in the game, while drawing nine walks. Michaels was the lone player with multiple hits, going 2 for 3 with three runs batted in and one run scored. LaSaint and Caleb Hurt each registered a pair of RBI's, while Lucas Trebian, Caban, and Carl Valk all scored twice.

Strzelczyk (1-1) went four innings with one earned run on two hits, a walk, and five strikeouts to pick up this first win of his career. Freshmen Troy Hickey and Trentin Uttech combined to close out the final inning with each recording one strikeout.

The WolfPack is now 7-3 in Region IV competition and 23-8 all-time against SVCC.

Up Next:

Madison College (10-10, 1-1) returns to North Central Community College Conference play on Tuesday, April 10 with a home doubleheader against in-state rival Milwaukee Area Technical College (4-14, 0-0). The WolfPack has won 37 consecutive games against the Stormers and own an 87-12 lead in the all-time series that dates back to the late 1960's. Tuesday's twin bill will mark a historic moment in the rivalry series, as game one of the doubleheader will be the 100th all-time meeting between the two programs. (The Madison College and MATC-Milwaukee men's basketball teams also met for their 100th game earlier this year.) First pitch is at 2:30 p.m. at Robin Roberts Field, with game two set to begin at approximately 5:30 p.m.

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