FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Lawrence Technological University baseball team rode a pair of quality starts by their starting pitchers to hold the Indiana Tech Warriors to five runs over two games on their way to a WHAC sweep, 2-1 and 7-4, on Saturday afternoon.
Game One
- With two outs in the second, Harry Storch doubled and came around to score on an error to open the scoring.
- The Blue Devils capitalized on the Warriors' miscue as a Sam DeKuiper double to left plated Jason Erhardt, giving LTU a 2-0 advantage heading to the bottom of the second.
- Both teams would go down in order in the fifth and sixth inning before an Indiana Tech two-out solo home run cut the deficit in half with one out to play.
- The next Warrior tripled to put the tying run 90-feet away but Ben Schmidt got the next hitter to ground out to second to secure the 2-1 Blue Devils' victory.
Inside the Numbers:
- Schmidt went the distance to earn his fourth win of the season: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7 Ks, BB
- LTU recorded just four hits by four different hitters
- DeKuiper went 1-for-2, RBI, BB
- Errors: IIT 2, LTU 0
Game Two
- The Warriors scored first this time with a steal of home in the third.
- LTU responded immediately as Luke Morrissette lead off the fourth with a dinger before Nick Olsen followed with a double to left. Trent Reed brought him home with an infield single to give the Blue Devils a 2-1 edge after 3 ½ innings.
- Logan Barker doubled the margin in the seventh with a pinch-hit 2-run jack to right center.
- Jake Llaneza hit a leadoff bomb in the eighth, his second of the season, to add another insurance run for LTU.
- That run would come in handy as Indiana Tech responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame off a sacrifice fly and a 2-run single to pull with one at 4-3.
- A one-out single to right by Jackson Walkowiak brought home Morrissette and Olsen to extend the lead back to three, 7-4, heading to the bottom of the ninth.
- Matt Olsen came on for the save and worked around a pair of one-out walks by striking out the winning run with the bases loaded to close the door for his third save of the season.
Inside the Numbers:
- Alek Wietryzkowski got the start on the bump; 8 IP, 7 H, 4 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 11 Ks, as he picked up his fifth win of the year
- Morrissette, Llaneza, and Reed each had two-hit games with an RBI for LTU
- Eight different Blue Devils recorded hits
Lawrence Tech heads to Saginaw on Wednesday, April 20
th for a single nine-inning non-conference game with SVSU, starting at 3:05 pm.
