Lake Wales, Fla. - The Lawrence Technological Blue Devils baseball team traveled to Lake Wales to take participate in the Warner invitational tournament. They split the games, losing 10-5 to #10 Bellevue and defeating Calumet in the second game to 11-5.
Game 1 vs. #10 Bellevue:
- Ben Schmidt got the start for the Blue Devils, he pitched 3.2 innings, giving up eight runs (all earned) on 13 hits, striking out three.
- Lawrence Tech jumped out ahead early when Nathan Brown scored on Trent Reed's fielder's choice giving them a 1-0 lead
- The Blue Devils would add another in the second with Nick Post scored on a wild pitch
- Bellevue answered in the bottom of the second when Zach Diehl singled in Brenton Davis. LTU 2, BU 1
- Jackson Walkowiak's sac fly gave LTU a 3-1 lead in the third
- Bellevue matched them in the third when Alec Ackerman singled in Conner Barnett
- They would tack on six runs in the fourth to take an 8-3 lead
- Lawrence Tech would score two in the fifth as Kellen Harding was hit with the bases juiced, followed by an RBI fielder's choice by Kellen Banaszewski. BU 8, LTU 5
- Bellevue tacked on an insurance run in both the fifth and sixth innings
- Schmidt (0-3) was handed the loss
Game 2 vs Calumet:
- Dominic Puccetti took the bump for the Blue Devils pitching six innings, giving up four runs (all earned) on three hits and six walks, striking out 10 in the process
- Calumet started early, scoring a run in the first when Gabriel Quinones took Puccetti deep
- The Blue Devils returned the favor in the second, as Nathan Picchioni hit a two-run bomb to left, scoring Reed
- With Brown batting, Nick Allen scores on a wild pitch, then Brown doubled in Banaszewski to give LTU a 4-1 lead
- Harry Storch singled through the right side scoring Allen
- Two batters later, Walkowiak doubled in Storch and Banaszewski
- In the fifth, Jason Erhardt brings in Trent Matthews with a double to the gap in left center
- The Crimson Wave would score three in the sixth to show fight, but the Blue Devils would answer with three in the bottom half of the inning. LTU 11, CCSJ 4
- Nicholas Semancik doubled in Maurey Garrett Jr. off Kyle Hennessey to end the scoring
- Puccetti (2-1) earned the victory
The Blue Devils (5-10) return to Warner University on Saturday, March 12 at 8:30 am when they take on Calumet College of St. Joseph.
