KANKAKEE, ILL. - The Madison College baseball team was able to salvage a split of a Saturday twin bill at Kankakee Community College, with the Cavaliers claiming the opener by a 10-4 margin and the WolfPack closing out the day with a 10-5 victory of their own. The win snapped a short two-game losing streak for Madison College, and maintained a 20-18 advantage in the all-time series between the two NJCAA Region 4 rivals. The teams have split the past ten meetings.

Game #1: Kankakee Community College 10, #20 Madison College 4 (7 innings)

Madison College drew first blood with a first inning run in the day's first game. Brady Jurgella drove in Gunnar Doyle with a single to right for a 1-0 lead. The Cavaliers answered in the second to tie it up, and both teams put up two more runs in the third. Freshman Eduardo Saucedo drove in Maguire Fitzgerald and Doyle with a hard-hit ground ball through the right side. Even at 3-3 in the fourth, KCC broke the game open in a big way, plating five runs on two hits, four walks, and an error. The Cavaliers used a grand slam to advance the score from 5-3 to 9-3. A Zach Storbakken sac fly to score Jurgella notched the final Madison College run in the fifth.

Saucedo, a catcher from Oregon, Wisconsin, went 2 for 4 with two RBI to lead the offensive attack. Three other players contributed with hits, while Doyle, a product of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, was able to score two of the four runs.

Former Madison East HS athlete Adrian Montilva (0-1) took the loss in his second appearance of the season. The lefthander allowed six earned runs on five hits, four walks, and a hit batter over his three-plus innings on the hill. He also struck out career-best seven batters. Jack McNeil, an Edgewood HS alum, pitched in relief for the final 2 2/3 innings with three earned runs on three hits and a walk, while also setting down three batters via strikeout.

Game #2: #20 Madison College 10, Kankakee Community College 5 (6 innings)

Game two told a much different story for Madison College, which was able to produce some offensive firepower and rack up its highest run and hit total for a game this season. Two walks and a double loaded the bases without any outs in the first inning, and Eli Kramer made it 1-0 when he raced home on a wild pitch. Two batters later it was Gabe O'Brien's single to right that brought in Kameron Laskowski and Zach Storbakken. Kankakee kept it close with two runs of their own against starter Carson Fluno. The WolfPack was not done in the early innings, as two hits, a walk, a hit batter, a wild pitch, and two steals all combined to create three more runs for a 6-2 advantage. Brady Jurgella was able to score by stealing home, and Laskowski and Storbakken both drove in a run.

Madison College pulled away in the fourth on one big swing from Storbakken. The Sussex, Wisconsin, native added to his team-leading home run and RBI totals with a three-run bomb to left with Jake Nelson and Kramer aboard. Storbakken capped his big day with a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the fifth that made it 10-4.

Storbakken, a 6'1" third baseman, finished with a career-high five runs batted in on two hits and a walk. He also scored two runs. O'Brien and Jake Fulton also enjoyed two-hit games, with O'Brien driving in a pair of runs. Nelson, a first year shortstop from Altoona, Wisconsin, crossed home three times on a hit and two walks. Kramer was also walked twice and scored twice. The WolfPack saw four of their ten hits go for extra bases and picked up eight walks and three stolen bases. 

Fluno lasted three innings and was tagged for just two earned runs on four hits and a pair of walks. The Sun Prairie HS product struck out three batters before giving way to Jacob Wilde (2-0), who earned his second win of the season. The native of Waukesha, Wisconsin, also worked three innings and struck out four. He surrendered two earned runs on three hits, three walks, and two wild pitches.

Up Next:

Madison College (5-4) plays again Monday, March 29 against NCAA Division III Rockford University JV. The game will be played at Rivets Stadium in Rockford, Illinois. The WolfPack have won five of the six all-time meetings, including five straight in the series. First pitch in the opener is slated for 2:00 p.m., and followed by a 5:00 p.m. start to the nightcap.

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