Wildcats Get Gritty and Win Against St. Catherine's

The baseball team came from behind to defeat Racine St. Catherine’s 6-5 in a Midwest Classic Conference game Tuesday in Racine.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we were gritty," said Tim Bartz,USM head Coach. "Our guys didn’t give up. They kept coming back. That kind of win is essential in a winning season.”

Two of the conference’s top starting pitchers, USM junior Josh Baker and St. Catherine’s senior Gunnar Neale, squared off and each surrendered a sole single in the first two innings. 

The Angels pushed across two runs in the bottom of the third. Sophomore Eric Eitel led off the inning and reached on an error and advanced to second on another error, while sophomore Cody Ortiz was at bat. Ortiz eventually walked. The Angels’ lead-off hitter senior Joel Hollow followed with a single to drive in Eitel. The Wildcats cut Ortiz down as he tried to advance as USM’s sophomore left fielder Patrick Lubar threw the ball in to junior shortstop Tommy Pennington, and Pennington relayed it to sophomore second baseman Nishad Agrawal who applied the tag as Ortiz slid back in to second. Hollow stole second, advanced to third on a throwing miscue after sophomore Nathan Simons flied out, and scored on a passed ball.  A beautiful throw to the plate from junior Nathan Burke to nail St. Catherine’s sophomore Eric Weisbrod at the plate later in the inning stifled the Angels’ rally and left the score 2-0 at the end of the third.

After a scoreless fourth inning, USM surged ahead in the top of the fifth. Sophomore Billy Lawton led off with a walk. Senior Jack Minahan then dropped down a sacrifice bunt that moved Lawton to second. Senior Ben Myers walked and freshman Jack Wells was put in as a courtesy runner for Myers. Agrawal reached on an error to load the bases. Junior Lane Stanford came to bat and lined a double to left to drive in Lawton and Wells. Lubar bunted to score to Agrawal and move Stanford to third on the sacrifice. Baker then singled to drive in Stanford and give USM a 4-2 lead.

Eitel’s started another rally for St. Catherine’s by singling to open the bottom of the fifth. He moved to second on a passed ball. Ortiz walked. Another passed ball put Eitel at third and Ortiz at second.  Hollow grounded to short to score Eitel and advance Ortiz to third. Simons flew out to right field allowing Ortiz to score on the sacrifice fly. Weisbrod then singled, stole second, and scored on sophomore Shey Smith’s double, and the Angels had regained the lead at 5-4.

The Wildcats showed their grit and tied it up in the top of the sixth. Burke led off with a single and Lawton followed with another single. During Minahan’s at-bat, Burke stole third. Minahan walked and with Myers at bat Burke raced home on a passed ball. 

St. Catherine’s put runners on in the bottom of sixth, but USM’s reliever Stanford held them and a good catch by senior Ronnie Wynn in left ended the threat.

USM squeaked a run across in the top of the seventh. Baker walked to start the frame. He stole second. With one out, coach Bartz signaled for a bunt. The Angels’ third baseman charged, Burke faked the bunt and pulled his bat back as Baker trotted in to third for a stolen base. Burke then drove the ball deep to right and Baker tagged and scored on the sacrifice fly. 

“Our short game was good today,” commented Bartz after the game. “It came from playing some tough teams in the tournament over the weekend. Our guys knew how to execute when the game was on the line.

Burke knew how to execute as a relief pitcher in the bottom of the seventh inning as he set down the Angels second, third and fourth batters in order to save the victory for Stanford, who had relieved for Baker in the fifth. Ortiz, who came on in relief for Neale, took the loss.

Smith led the hitting for St. Catherine’s going 2-4. Stanford was 2-4 with two RBIs and a double, and Baker was 2 -4 with one RBI and a double for USM.

St. Catherine’s is 4-1 and 1-1 in the conference. USM is 5-1 and 3-0 in the conference. The two teams meet again for another conference confrontation at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at USM.