PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Zak Keegan (Jr.-Frankfort, Ill.) drove in four runs at the plate with a pair of triples and later pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to earn his first-ever save as the Lakeland University baseball team held off Concordia University Chicago 17-14 in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday.
The Muskies at last earned their second Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference win of the season and first victory in nearly a month, using two huge innings to come back from an early deficit and win a shootout on a warm and windy day. The Cougars won the first game 14-2 before Lakeland snapped a 19-game losing streak and improved to 7-28 overall and 2-18 in conference.
A sudden offensive outburst helped the Muskies rebound from a dismal first game and a slow start in the second game. Lakeland exploded for 15 runs over two innings and turned a 5-0 deficit into a 15-5 lead by batting around in consecutive innings, and in the fourth inning saw all nine batters in the order register a hit as part of a nine-run inning.
The Muskies began by scoring six times in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of walks and two Concordia Chicago (18-20 overall, 9-13 NACC) errors to get started. The rally picked up speed when Keegan hit a two-run triple to the right field corner to cut the Cougars' lead to 5-4, and Dylan Costello (So.-New Berlin, Wis.) sent a double down the right field line to drive in two more and put Lakeland ahead 6-5.
Lakeland then put together a massive two-out rally in the fourth, scoring nine times, all coming after two were out. Chris Day (So.-Victorville, Calif.) started the inning with a one-out single, Kellen Hodges (Sr.-Littleton, Colo.) hit an RBI double with two outs to drive in Day, and suddenly the Muskies could do no wrong at the plate. Eight straight hitters in all reached on hits, and when Keegan hit his second two-run triple of the game to the right field corner to make it 15-5, he became the ninth different Muskie to hit safely in the inning.
OakLee Spens (Sr.-South Weber, Utah) also hit a two-run double, and four others added run-scoring hits in the frame, with Tucker Gegenfurtner (Fr.-Onalaska, Wis.), Jacob Wollschlager (So.-Kenosha, Wis.), Aiden Swann (Fr.-Aurora, Ill.) and Armaan Sharma (So.-Pinole, Calif.) all drove in runs with singles.
Lakeland has played in a number of high-scoring games this season, though, and with the wind blowing strong out right center the game was far from over. Concordia Chicago chipped away and scored at least two runs in four consecutive innings, getting as close as 16-14 in the eighth inning.
With a pitching staff worn out from playing six games in a span of four days, Head Coach Kevin Post went to infielders in the game for his final two pitchers, and with two outs in the eighth and the tying run on second it was Keegan summoned to pitch. The junior infielder had just made his first career collegiate pitching appearance two days earlier against Carroll, pitching a scoreless two-thirds of an inning, and he got out of the eighth inning jam by getting CUC leadoff hitter Eli Hickman to ground out to second.
The Muskies added a big insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with Spens reaching on an infield single and later coming around to score on a two-out single by Hodges. Keegan then retired the Cougars' Tyler Dorsch and Tyler Krater to begin the ninth, setting down the Cougars' No. 2 and 3 hitters who combined for three home runs on the day. Michael Kasik doubled with two outs to keep Concordia alive, but Dom Owens struck out looking to end the game with lightning and storms starting to come into view to the south by game's end.
Hodges went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored and was one of seven Muskies to record multi-hit games. Spens added two hits, three RBIs and three runs scored and Swann reached four times, including two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored plus a pair of walks. Gegenfurtner earned his first collegiate win, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing 11 hits and nine runs with five strikeouts.
Concordia Chicago dominated the first game, scoring a run in the first and then adding five in both the second and third innings. The Cougars batted around in the second and third innings, highlighted by Dorsch hitting a three-run homer to make it 11-0 early.
The Muskies were scoreless until the seventh and final inning, when Hodges singled to score Spens and break up the shutout and Gegenfurtner followed with an RBI single to drive in Keegan. Lakeland finished with just five hits, though, led by Keegan and Hodges with two hits each. Anthony Yust (So.-Kenosha, Wis.) took the loss, making it two-plus innings and allowing nine runs, while Aiden Blaszkowski (Fr.-Fort Campbell, Ky.) finished the final five innings and allowed eight hits and five runs, including two runs in his first 4 2/3 before CUC put together a rally late in the seventh.
The Muskies are on the road Tuesday to face Marian University for a doubleheader starting at noon in Fond du Lac.
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