Howell Walks-Off In Game One, Tech Drops Game Two Thriller

Ted Howell hit a walk-off homer in game one vs WLC (photo credit: Stephen Bates, WCS Photography)
Ted Howell hit a walk-off homer in game one vs WLC (photo credit: Stephen Bates, WCS Photography)

JOLIET, Ill. – With Ed Glancy Field still drying out due to Sunday's snow, the Scarlet Hawks took their talents to Route 66 Stadium in Joliet, home of the Frontier League's Joliet Slammers, on Monday to host Wisconsin Lutheran College. Tech defeated the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) foe in walk-off fashion before….

Runs-Hits-Errors: Game 1

  • WLC: 2 runs, 6 hits, 0 errors
  • Tech 3 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors

How it Happened: Game 1

  • Tech starter Ian Duke dominated early, striking out five over his first three innings of work. In the fourth, he induced a key double play grounder before stranding a runner in scoring position in the fifth.
  • With the score tied at 0-0 in the sixth, the Warriors broke through first. After a hit by pitch and a groundout in the inning, WLC's Brannigan Hart tripled to right center field to bring home the first run of the game. Jake Schwall drove in Hart one batter later on a groundout.
  • The Scarlet Hawks would answer after Duke fanned two more hitters in the top of the seventh. After a Michael Courtney single and a Warrior defensive miscue on a fielder's choice to set the table, second baseman Brandon Bennitt delivered a one-out double to left center that cleared the bases and tied the score.
  • Entering in a tie game, Jacob Geiger was awesome in relief for the Scarlet Hawks. He tossed scoreless eighth and ninth frames, ending the top of the ninth on a strikeout looking.
  • With the count 0-2 and with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, first baseman Ted Howell blasted a line drive over the left field fence and celebrated at home plate with his teammates, as the bomb gave Tech a 3-2 walkoff win.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts: Game 1

  • Howell's blast was his third of 2019 and lifted the team's total on the season to 12. He also doubled over the centerfielder's head earlier in the game and was the only Scarlet Hawk with multiple hits in the game.
  • Bennitt delivered the key two-RBI double in the seventh.
  • Duke was incredible in his seven innings of work, allowing just two runs, four hits, and two walks while striking out eight.
  • Geiger earned his first win of the season with his two scoreless innings in relief.

Runs-Hits-Errors: Game 2

  • WLC: 14 runs, 18 hits, 4 errors
  • Tech: 13 runs, 14 hits, 4 errors

How it Happened: Game 2

  • The Warriors tallied a few hits in the top of the first, scoring twice on a pair of singles. In the top of the second, Hart hit is second RBI triple of the day to give WLC an early 3-0 lead.
  • It was Howell again who drove in Tech's first one, this time on a deep sacrifice fly to bring Peter Upham home to make the score 3-1.
  • After WLC tacked on four more in the following innings, the Scarlet Hawks would respond in the fifth. Bennitt tripled off the wall in right field to drive in a run before a long at-bat from Jacob Sorenson resulted in an error by the third baseman, plating another run.
  • Tech exploded in the sixth, with Howell doubling to left center after a no-out walk from Peter Upham to make it a 7-4 score. After a pitching change, Brandon Holifield greeted the new arm with an RBI single to right field to bring Tech to within two.
  • Later in the inning, Holified would make a heads-up baserunning play to score on a wild pitch. After Sorenson worked a walk, he took off for second, forced the Warriors to throw home to nab Bennitt, and everyone was safe to tie the game. Sorenson would then score on a single by Orlando Cardenas-Juan to give Tech its first lead.
  • The offense wasn't done in the inning, however, as Peter Upham and Howell worked two-out walks to bring home the sixth run of the inning. Another error and a single by John Casey then played the seventh and eighth runs of the frame as Tech went from trailing 7-1 to leading 11-7 after six innings.
  • In the seventh, Tech had a two-out rally, with Cardenas-Juan singling and stealing second before Nick Bledsoe knocked him in.
  • However, the Warriors would strike back, plating five runs in the eighth inning to tie the game up at 12-12. In the ninth, WLC scored once more to take the lead before the Scarlet Hawks gunned down another runner at home on a great throw from Howell after a putout.
  • Bennitt led off the top of the ninth with a single before advancing to second on a passed ball. After a perfect sacrifice bunt from Sorenson, Cardenas-Juan laid down a perfect suicide squeeze to bring Bennitt home to tie the score.
  • The Warriors weren't done either, however, scoring once in the top of the tenth. This time, WLC was able to stifle the Tech offense to earn the one-run victory.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts: Game Two

  • Bennitt was awesome once again, tripling twice and recording three hits, and RBI, and three runs scored.
  • Howell drove in another three runs, doubled, and walked twice.
  • Cardenas-Juan, Bledsoe, Upham, Holifield, and Casey all had two hits each.

Up Next

  • The Scarlet Hawks are back at it tomorrow against the Sabercats of Maranatha Baptist on the road for a 3:00 p.m. non-conference doubleheader. Both games will be seven innings.