MADISON, WISC. - The Madison College baseball team completed the 2023 regular season from the comforts of home, and took advantage with six consecutive wins to build momentum into the postseason. After a sweep of the College of DuPage to claim the N4C championship, the #10-ranked WolfPack crushed Kishwaukee College 20-2 in seven innings on Friday, swept a Saturday doubleheader over South Suburban College with scores of 8-4 and 8-7, and ended homestand with a 10-2 victory over Oakton College at Robin Roberts Field. The Pack closes the regular season with a 38-10 record.

Friday: #10 Madison College 20, Kishwaukee College 2 (7 innings)

A season-high 20 runs and 19 hits made easy work of the visiting Kougars in a game that saw the home team plate three or more runs in four separate innings. After a scoreless first inning, Madison exploded for eight runs and sent 14 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second. Will Johannes followed a leadoff single from Grant Ross with a double to center to make it 1-0, and two batters later Evan Iwinski dropped down a bunt single to score Johannes. Dayton Rozinski-Hicks drove in Payton Frehner on a ground out to short three batters before Gabe Roessler came up with the bases loaded and cleared them with a triple to the wall in center. The six-run lead grew when Roessler scored on a Kishwaukee error, and went to 8-0 with a bases loaded walk of Iwinski.

Three walks in the first four at-bats of the third inning filled the base paths for Ross in the third inning, and the first year infielder took advantage with a run-scoring single to start a three-run frame and give the Pack a double-digit lead. In the fourth, a fielder's choice with runners on scored Rozinski-Hicks, and two batters later, Johannes added to his team-leading home run total with a three-run blast to right for a 15-0 advantage. A lone run on three hits in the fifth gave the WolfPack 16 runs to match their previous high for the season set March 10 at Mesa Community College.

Madison did not stop in the sixth four runs on six hits, including five consecutive singles with two outs. Iwinski and Petasek each drove in one run, while Colin Obermann's ground ball through the left side brought home two runs.

In their final at-bats ahead of the run-rule decision, the Kougars (5-36) used two hits and a single to put two runs on the scoreboard.

Five different players had multiple hits, led by a trio with three hits each. Johannes, who had four hits, four RBI, and two runs scored in the game prior on Thursday, posted three hits, four runs batted in, and two scored.

Iwinski, a native of Franklin, Wisconsin, went 3 for 4 with three runs batted in and three runs scored. Petasek also had a team-leading three hits, to go along with two runs and two RBI. 

Roessler, a sophomore from Rockton, Illinois, had a hit and a walk, and produced four runs driven in and three runs scored.

Second year starter Kellan Short (2-0) worked five innings of scoreless baseball with five hits allowed and five strike outs. Logan LeTourneau tossed a 1-2-3 sixth inning with one K, and Adam Balcerak allowed two runs on two hits in the seventh.

Madison College is now 40-24-1 all-time against Kishwaukee and have won five straight meetings.

Saturday
Game #1: #10 Madison College 8, South Suburban College 4

The visiting Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opener with three singles. Madison took the lead for good in the bottom of the second with the first of back-to-back three-run innings. Consecutive singles from Payton Frehner and Evan Iwinski each drove in a run, and Jake Petasek's fielder's choice to shortstop brought in Iwinski. 

In the third, Will Johannes unloaded on his eighth home run of the season, hitting a solo dinger to right. Iwinski singled home Clayton Slack ahead of a sacrifice bunt from Dayton Rozinski-Hicks with Frehner racing in for a 6-2 lead. The Bulldogs cut back into the differential with a two-run home run off starter Alex Hayes, making it a two-run game. It stayed that way until the sixth when Grant Ross' line drive single to right plated Gabe Roessler and Petasek.

Johannes, the native of Mukwonago, Wisconsin, went 3 for 3 with two runs scored and one batted in.  Over a three game stretch, the catcher/first baseman batted .909 with ten hits in 11 at-bats, and racked up nine RBI and six runs scored.

Iwinski and Frehner each tallied two hits, with the former driving in a pair of runs and scoring another, and the latter posting one of each.

Hayes (6-0) finishes a perfect regular season with his sixth win to match Andres Kleinsek for the team lead. The lefthander from Muskego, Wisconsin, was tagged for four runs on seven hits and a walk over 6.1 innings. He struck out seven to give him a team-best 61 over 55.0 total innings. Ross came in to throw the final two outs.

Game #2: #10 Madison College 8, South Suburban College 7

Despite an early lead in the nightcap, the WolfPack needed a huge rally in extra innings to keep the win streak going. An error on a Grant Ross grounder in the first inning scored Carter Stebane, who had walked and stole second. Clayton Slack opened the second with a double to center, and scored two batters later on an infield single from Ryan Santi for a 2-0 lead. 

The Bulldogs got a run on the scoreboard in the fifth thanks to a two-out double of Logan LeTourneau, however, the Pack answered back when Ross followed a pair of walks with a line drive to center to score Nick Nowak.

Freshman Ben Kasten came in to work the seventh, but was unable to pick up the save, letting a two-run lead fade away on a double and two singles.

In extra innings, South Suburban (36-19) drew four walks from Kasten and used two hits to tally four runs for a 7-3 lead. The WolfPack had some work to do, which is exactly what they did in the bottom of the eighth. A single and two walks loaded the bases for Clayton Slack, who hit a sacrifice fly to score Gabe Roessler. A hit batter and an error followed to bring the differential to two runs. Following a walk drawn by Dayton Rozinski-Hicks forced in a run to make it 7-6, Stebane walked off with a two-run single to center that scored Petasek and Freshner. 

Madison College registered just six hits, but took full advantage of six walks, one hit batter, and three errors. Slack, a transfer from Marshalltown Community College, was the only player with more than one hit, going 2 for 3 with a run and a RBI. Ross and Stebane also had a hit, one run, and one run batted in.

The WolfPack used five pitchers, with starter Michael Carpenter going three innings, striking out three batters, and holding the Bulldogs without a run on a hit and a walk. Allen Leitner, Logan LeTourneau, and Liam Stumpf each tossed an inning, with LeTourneau giving up a run on a hit and a walk despite two K's. The win went to Kasten (4-1) after he pitched the final two frames and allowed six runs on five hits and four walks. He struck out one.

The sweep evens the all-time series at 23-23.

Sunday: #10 Madison College 10, Oakton College 2 (8 innings)

The season finale also brought a celebration of a ten-member Sophomore Class of 2023 as Gabe Roessler, Clayton Slack, Carter Stebane, Chris Byhre, Eli Hoyt, Kellan Short, Alex Hayes, Andrew Brockwell, Isaiah Cerfus, and Logan LeTourneau were all recognized prior to first pitch.

Once the action started, the Owls struck first with a run in the opening half inning off an error, a wild pitch, a ground out, and a sacrifice fly. The deficit increased to 2-0 in the third before the Pack answered back with a run in the home half. Stebane and Roessler reached on back-to-back singles, and a error by the Owls brought Stebane in to make it 2-1.

That run flipped the momentum over the Madison, who loaded the bases with no outs to start the fourth inning. Another walk issued to Stebane forced in the tying run, and a Roessler sac fly and Ross ground out to follow each drove in a run to make it 4-2.

Nick Nowak roped a RBI-double to left in the fifth to score Payton Frehner, and an Iwinski sac bunt in the sixth pushed the differential to 6-2. And that's when the fireworks began. Freshman Trace Kirchberg, playing in his first game since April 15, returned to the lineup and smashed a two-run home run to right for an 8-6 lead. The Columbus, Wisconsin, native came to the plate again with one out and nobody on in the eighth, and drove the first pitch he saw over the left field fence for a seven-run lead and his second homer of the day...and season. Jake Petasek single in a run to cap the scoring before Eamonn Mulhern entered in relief to work a 1-2-3 ninth.

Kirchberg matched a season-best with three RBI as part of a 2 for 2 day with two runs scored. He's the 17th player in program history to hit two or more home runs, and the first to do so since Adam LaRock accomplished the feat furing the 2019 Region 4 Tournament. 

Nowak also had two hits, and finished with a run scored and one batted in. Frehner, a native of Waukesha, Wisconsin, led the team with three runs scored thanks to a hit and two walks.

The WolfPack used five arms en route to the win. Freshman Nick West (5-1) picked up the win after four innings of work that yielded four strike outs. He gave up just one hit, but did allow three free passes that led to one earned run and one unearned run. The quartet of Liam Stumpf, Adam Balcerak, Allen Leitner, and Mulhern combined for five innings, seven K's, and three hits.

Madison now leads the all-time series with Oakton (25-27) by a 17-13 tally. 

Up Next: 

Madison College (38-10) begin Region 4 Tournament play with a sectional best-of-three series on Friday, May 12 and Saturday, May 13 at Robin Roberts Field. Game times will be noon and 3:00 p.m. for Games 1 and 2 on Friday, with a noon start for Game 3, if necessary, on Saturday. The seedings, matchups, and locations will all be announced later today.

Watch live at MadisonCollege.tv, and follow live stats via the GameChanger app.

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