Athletics finish off SEC title with sweep of Mabel-Canton
Published 9:21 pm Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Lyle-Pacelli baseball team shook off a couple of slow starts as it wrapped up its second straight Southeast Conference championship with a sweep over Mabel-Canton in the Riverland baseball complex Tuesday.
The Athletics won game one 7-5 and they took the nightcap 17-5 in five innings.
LP (11-4 overall, 11-1 SEC) trailed both games 5-0 before bouncing back.
“It was a little hangover from yesterday I think,” LP head coach Brock Meyer said. “We were a little overconfident, but I told them it’s baseball and you can’t just think you’re going to come out and walk through it.”
LP trailed 5-1 going into the sixth inning of the opener when its bats finally woke up. Freshman Lukes Klabunde had a two-out run scoring single that tied the game at 5-5, and Ryan McConnell gave his team the lead for good with a two-out, two-single.
Freshman Jordan Cotter added a two-out, two-run single in the rally.
“We got some big hits from some young players. You’ve got to give them credit for coming in and playing,” Meyer said.
LP sophomore Jordan Hart continued his hot hitting as he went 6-for-8 on the day with two RBIs.
“I feel comfortable in the box. I’m just trying to find a pitch I like and hitting it. I’m trying to help our team out,” Hart said. “I think we were just a little overconfident (today). We have to come out strong and play hard.”
LP will open the Section 1A West Division tournament as a No. 7 seed and it will play at No. 2 Southland Thursday at 5 p.m.
Meyer said the Athletics will lean on Daniel Bollingberg, who was 4-for-7 with four RBIs Tuesday, on the mound in that game.
“If Daniel pitches his game, he can beat anybody,” Meyer said. “But he’s got to throw strikes and we can’t get down five runs to Southland.”
MC 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 — 5 5 1
LP 0 0 0 1 0 6 X — 7 14 1
LP pitching: Skylar Meyer, 1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 ER; Jordan Hart (W), 6 IP, 4 H, 6 BB, 3 R, 2 ER, 9 K
LP hitting: Daniel Bollingberg, 1-for-3, R, SB; Meyer, 1-for-1; Hart, 3-for-4, SB, R; Ryan McConnell, 1-for-4, 2 RBIs; Sean Shapiro, 2-for-3, double, 2 R, BB; Drew Chapek, 1-for-2; Jake Nelson, 1-for-3, RBI, R; Kevin Juenger, 0-for-2; Jordan Cotter, 1-for-3, 2 RBIs; Lukes Klabunde, 2-for-3, RBI; Lee Bauer, 0-for-1; Braden Kocer, 1-for-1, R
MC 0 5 0 0 0 — 5 8 2
LP 0 6 10 1 X — 17 16 0
LP pitching: Juenger (W), 5 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 5 ER, 4 K
LP hitting: Bollingberg, 3-for-4, 4 RBIs, 2 R, SB; Chapek, 2-for-4, 2 RBIs; Hart, 3-for-4, 2 RBIs, SB, 2 R; McConnell, 2-for-4, 3 RBIs, 2 R, SB; Shapiro, 0-for-1, 2 R, 2 BBs, 2 SB; Nelson, 1-for-3, 2 R, HBP; Cotter, 1-for-2, RBI, 2 R, SB; Bauer, 2-for-3, 2 RBIs, BB; Klabunde, 2-for-3, RBI, 3 R, BB; Kocer, 0-for-1, RBI, R; Meyer, R