CRYSTAL LAKE, IL – The Norse Baseball Team (1-12) rebounded after two big losses on Sunday, playing two closely contested games against McHenry County College (10-3). Bay ended up falling by final scores of 7-4 and 10-2.
The Norse had to fight from behind in the first game as the Scots came out with a five-run first. Bay started to chip away in the top of the second when Johnnie Robinette (FR, Escanaba, MI) singled to center. The Norse left two on in the inning however.
Bay got a second run in the fourth. Drake Forrest (SO, Gladstone, MI) picked up the RBI with a single to right. Sam Kiiskila (FR, Calumet, MI) scored on a wild pitch, and the Norse executed a double steal, with Forrest taking home, cutting the lead down to one.
The Norse missed an opportunity in the fifth when they started with two runners on with no one out and left them stranded.
McHenry added runs in the fifth and sixth and Bay could get nothing going in the final two innings.
Xavier Whittle (FR, Oakville, ON) collected two hits in four at bats.
Austin Burnside (FR, Crivitz, WI) recovered after a long first inning. He went the distance for Bay giving up seven hits, seven runs, only three of them earned. He walked one and struck out six.
In the finale the Norse took their first lead of the series in the top of the first. Hector Araguayan (SO, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) lined a single to center to send two runs to the plate.
The lead would not last long as the Scots drew a walk with two outs in the bottom of the second. Jaden Hackbarth (FR, Neenah, WI) took an outside fastball and had it carry out of the park to right to tie the game.
A second two-run shot in the fifth would break the tie. This time it was Tyler Castro (FR, Huntley, IL) who drove one out to right. The Scots got a sacrifice fly to add to the lead in the inning.
The Norse ran into some bad luck in the seventh. After a leadoff double the Scots got a series of soft flyballs and groundballs that found holes to break the game open.
The Norse missed several opportunities in the game. They ended up leaving 12 runners on in the contest, stranding the bases loaded multiple times.
Forrest ended up with two hits in four at bats.
Dalton Graham (SO, Sault Ste. Marie, MI) took the loss. He went five innings and gave up five hits, five runs, four earned, and three walks while striking out seven.
"This is a very good team we just faced," said Head Coach Mike Pankow. "I thought our players were too slow to make adjustments yesterday, but after getting our tails kicked, this crew responded. Our pitchers in all four games gave us a chance to win, but today we did a much better job of taking care of the ball behind them. Most importantly our hitters made some serious adjustments to their pitching and gave a really good team a scare. If we continue to take these types of strides, good things are in store for this team going forward."
Bay will be on the road to Illinois again next weekend. On Friday they have a doubleheader against Harper College that starts at 2 pm. They follow that with a four-game series against the College of DuPage. Doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday start at 1 pm.