Griffins Offense Takes Over Game One; Lankford Closes Door In Finale To Secure Sweep Of Pioneers

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University baseball team got back over the .500 mark on the year on Thursday after a 12-3 and 5-3 doubleheader sweep over Wisconsin-Platteville.

Fontbonne 12 Wisconsin-Platteville 3

In game one, the Griffins (8-6), compiled 14 hits and were led by the duo of Michael Golich and Jackson Penrod each contributing three hits, while Penrod led with three RBI.

Ryan Schocker and Deiydon Rushing added two hits. Evan Siegler, meanwhile, scored a team-high three times and tallied two RBI.

On the bump, Luke Summers, worked around his six walks as he improved to 3-1 on the season tossing 5.1 innings, allowing three runs and striking out five. The trio of Brett Lange, John Hughes and Chris Little allowed just one hit and struck out six the rest of the way.

Wisconsin-Platteville (1-7), were limited to four hits, two of which coming off the bat of leadoff hitter Josh Moses. Starter Cal Krafcheck was dealt the loss, after going 4.0 innings, allowing seven runs (three earned) and sat down one.

In the first, Golich led off with a single and two batters later he scored on an RBI double from Schocker. In the ensuing half inning, though the Pioneers answered.

With two on and two out, Brennan Kearney hit a single to left, plating Connor Crotty. Then, Moses cleared the bases with a two RBI single of his own, extending the lead out to 3-1.

The Griffins responded in the home half of the fourth. Gus Purschke led off with a double and moved up to third on Rushing's single. Purschke went on to touch home on a passed ball to make it 3-2.

Later in the inning, Jonathan Hoevelmann reached first on a throwing error and that allowed Rushing to score, tying the game at 3-3. Then, Penrod grounded out to short, however, Siegler, who walked earlier, scored on the play to give Fontbonne the lead.

In the fifth, the Griffins put away the game for good. The team scored six runs on five hits, extending its lead out to 10-3. They tacked on two more runs in the sixth and cruised to the nine-run win.

Fontbonne 5 Wisconsin-Platteville 3

In the night cap, the Griffins finished with seven hits as Siegler had another strong game going 3-for-5 with a run scored in the No. 2 spot. Penrod extended his hitting streak out to eight as well. Out of the pen, Cole Lankford pitched a game, tossing 4.1 innings of shutout ball and struck out six.

On the other side of the field, the Pioneers never got into a groove offensively while defensive miscues proved costly. At the plate, Jonathon Kelso led with his 1-for-3 and two RBI performance.

Starter Riley Vandenber took the tough no-decision as the Pioneers bullpen was unable to fend off Fontbonne. Caleb Kaufmann allowed three runs (one earned) on just one hit in his 0.2 innings of work.

The game remained scoreless up until the third. With two outs, the Pioneers had the bases loaded. Kelso worked a walk to bring home the first run of the game.

In the bottom half, though Hoevelmann was hit-by-pitch to start off the inning. He went on to score on a Pioneer fielding error. In the fifth, UW-Platteville took the lead right back. The team got RBI singles from Kelso and Ryan Vogel, giving them a 3-1 advantage.

That score remained the same up until the seventh. Siegler got things started with a rope of a single to center. After a hit-by-pitch, a groundout and a walk, the bases were juiced for Nick Kenny. He took a pitch off the jersey, scoring Siegler.

The Pioneers made a pitching change and got Purschke to hit a grounder over to short. However, the throw went wild over to first, allowing Tossick and Penrod to score, putting Fontbonne back out in front, 4-3. Shocker added a key RBI double in the eighth to give them some breathing room at 5-3.

In the ninth, the Pioneers eventually had the bases loaded with one out. Lankford got Crotty to pop out to short and froze Brendon Reifsteck with a curveball, securing the two-run win.

The team returns to action this Saturday and Sunday for a weekend series against Carthage. On Saturday, they'll play two starting at 12 p.m., followed by a 12 p.m., game on Sunday.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the Griffins baseball team.