THE LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The Sabercats and the Red Lions wrapped up the series with traded wins on a warm Saturday in Watertown.

The Sabercats exploded in game three before falling in a close game four. In the first game of the day, the Sabercats scored 13 runs in one at-bat en route to a 17-5 rout of the Red Lions.

THE OVERVIEW

• Results: MBU 17-5 LCU, MBU 3-4 LCU
• Venue: Washington Park
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Records: MBU (2-16), LCU (7-19)

THE STORY

After a pleasant exchange of one run in the first inning, the game blew wide open in the bottom of the second, when MBU scored a savage 13 runs off Lincoln Christian, and it all came with two outs.

Ryan Hempel got it started with an RBI single that brought home two runners. Hempel would do the same thing his next time up, finishing the inning with four RBI to lead Maranatha. The other fireworks came when Alex Causey smashed an RBI triple to right-center, bringing home Hempel and Clint Matheis. Besides that, Jonah Bailey (2), Kyle Cummins, Dillon Smith, and Matheis all had RBI singles in the inning. Everything that came in went out twice as fast, as every Sabercat batter had an eye for the ball right out of the pitcher's hand.

Seventeen batters. Twelve hits. Hitting streaks of four and five hits. And 13 runs that all came with two outs.

From that point on, the win was a formality. Smith came back up in the fifth inning and knocked an RBI triple to right, bringing home Nate Croswell and Cummins. But Smith's triple was just the icing on the cake, as Maranatha coasted out to a powerhouse win to open the Parents' Day contests.

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The second game was more of a pitchers' duel than the first. 

Matheis only allowed one Red Lion hit in the first five innings, but three Sabercat errors helped Lincoln out to a 3-1 lead.

Causey brought the lumber again in the bottom of the fifth, bombing a double off the center field fence. Two batters later, the freshman scored on some alert baserunning, making the most of a wild pitch to slide safely into home plate.

The Red Lions' bats came to life in the sixth, as the visitors recorded a single and a triple to extend the lead out to 4-2. And when Maranatha went three up, three down in the bottom of the inning, things were leaning in favor of the visitors.

Bailey made it a one-run game in the bottom of the seventh, but Brett Beasley did just enough on the mound for LCU, holding the Sabercats to one hit in the final at-bat of the series.

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MBU Batting Order (Game 1) - Hempel (P), Matheis (LF), Causey (SS), Bailey (C), Paruch (3B), Cummins (1B), Croswell (2B), Smith (RF), Gieger (CF)

MBU Batting Order (Game 2) - Hempel (2B), Matheis (P), Causey (SS), Bailey (C), Paruch (3B), Cummins (1B), Smith (RF), Gieger (CF), Hecker (LF)

THE STATS

(Two-game totals)

• Hempel: 3 hits, 4 RBI
• Causey: 4 hits, 2 2B, 3B, 2 RBI
• Cummins: 4 hits, RBI, (4-4 in game one)
• MBU: 9 different student-athletes registered hits
• MBU: those 13 runs was the most in an inning in over 7 years.

THE OPPONENTS

• Lincoln Christian are dually affiliated: NAIA and the NCCAA DI
• LCU's record includes a 2-7 fall season
• The Red Lions' last win came on April 2 against Calumet College of St. Joseph

THE OUTLOOK

The Sabercats will stay at home for one more doubleheader, taking on Wisconsin Lutheran Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. Follow at mbusabercats.com/composite.