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| Joe Lange delivers against the 'jackets |
Posted April 10, 2009
Joe Lange reached a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference milestone, but more important to the senior left-hander was the WIAC victory in which he pitched.
Lange became the 13th player in WIAC history and first Pioneer to reach 200 strikeouts during the Pioneers' 3-0 victory over visiting UW-Superior Friday. Steve Bomkamp's 10th-inning single gave the Pioneers a 5-4 win in the second game to complete the sweep.
The East Dubuque native didn't waste any time reaching his historic plateau. Lange struck out Mitch Loegering to open the first game for K 200.
"To tell the truth I didn’t know about that until recently," he said. "I knew about the school strikeout record (171 set by Kendall Murray), and that was always a goal of mine, in a team context. I want the team to win more, and than those goals can come."
Both teams battled strong winds that blew across Kendall Murray Field all afternoon.
"It was really gusty. It almost blew me off-balance," he said. "You never knew when it was going to gust."
After giving up five hits in the first three innings, Lange only allowed two hits the rest of the way.
"After I got through the order, I looked at the pitching charts and realized what I had to do," Lange said. "I threw a lot more breaking balls."
The Pioneers executed a perfect hit-and-run for their first run. With Brett Benesh breaking from first, Lee Hawkins slapped the ball through the right-side, moving Benesh to third. Benesh scored when Shawn Tobie's hard smash up the middle was turned into a double play.
UWP added two insurance runs in the sixth on two walks, singles by Matt Paulus and and Jason Jacobson, and two Yellowjackets' errors.
That was more than enough for Lange, who finished with six strikeouts and no walks in his second career complete-game shutout.
The shutouts were ended quickly in game two during a four-game series dominated by pitching. The Yellowjackets led 2-0 into the third before the Pioneers scored three, with Lee Hawkins driving home one with a single, and Tobie Hawkins bringing home another with a double.
Justin Crotty pitched the first 5 innings before being hit in the head with a line drive in a scene eerily similar to Thursday night's Brewers-Giants game. Crotty eventually jogged off the field on his own. Justin Cox, Joe Cox and Aaron Daniels followed in relief.
Kevin Osmanski doubled home a run in the seventh for a 4-2 lead, before the Yellowjackets tied it in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Joe Stark's sacrifice fly to left knotted the score at 4-4.
In the 10th, Benesh boomed a double to deep left-center. After Hawkins was intentionally walked, Bomkamp delivered a shot to left that bounced about two feet inside the line, scoring Benesh with the one-out game-winner. Daniels threw the final 2 and one-third inning of no-hit relief to earn the victory.
The Pioneers improved to 12-10 overall and 5-5 in the WIAC, while the Yellowjackets left town with 8-14, 1-7 records.
UWP plays host to St. Norbert Monday and UW-La Crosse Wednesday, with both doubleheaders starting at 1 p.m.
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