OAK CREEK, Wis. – The Stormers (7-6) picked up their first home win of the 2024-25 season Monday after splitting a doubleheader against undefeated Harper College (5-1). MATC dropped the opening game 15-7 before bouncing back to claim a 2-1 victory over the Hawks in Game 2.

"I'm glad we got our first home win of the season," MATC head coach Caleb Bounds said. "Hopefully the guys can relax a little bit now and get us going here in region play."

Stormers' starter Michael Merline (1-1) hurled an absolute gem in Game 2, surrendering one unearned run on two hits while striking out six and walking two over a complete-game effort to help him earn his first win on the rubber.

"It was great to get our first home win of the season," Merline said. "The boys were behind me and we just did what we had to do to get the win."

Game 1 - Wild pitching costs Stormers
MATC wasted little time jumping out 3-0  in front of Harper in the first, but 16 combined free passes (14 walks, 2 hit-by-pitches) between its pitchers played a major factor in the Stormers taking a 15-7 defeat in Game 1.

"Our biggest thing is that we just have to compete in the strike zone," Bounds said of his team's pitching in Game 1. "We told our pitchers that we can't let ourselves beat ourselves. That's what happened there in Game 1. Whenever you give them 16 free passes, they are bound to score runs. You're never going to win the game whenever you lose the walk and air battle."

Coming off a hitless effort against Black Hawk College on Sunday, the Stormers' bats came alive right out of the gate. They plated three runs in the top of the first following RBI singles by Camdin Jansen, Ryan Quello and an RBI groundout by Brady Johnson.

Up 3-0 through one inning of play, MATC starter Max Mueller settled in by retiring six of his next seven batters faced between the second and third innings. It wasn't until the top of the fourth when Harper flipped the game on its head by scoring six runs on five hits to take a 6-3 lead. The biggest blow in the inning came when Mueller tossed two wild pitches with the bases loaded, scoring a pair of runs.

The Hawks continued to capitalize on the Stormer's inability to toss strikes when they needed it most. MATC surrendered five more runs in the fifth, four of which came off of two walks, one passed ball and one hit-by-pitch.

Trailing 11-3 through five innings, Harper went on to extend its lead to 15-3 after scoring four more runs in the top of the sixth. On the verge of being mercy ruled by the 10-run rule, the Stormers got things cooking by answering with four runs of their own, all with two outs. Jake Hall singled, followed by a walk to Ryan Crawford III, an RBI single by Cole Wissen and then back-to-back RBI doubles by Easton Morehouse and Jansen.

Unfortunately, the Stormers weren't able to carry their momentum with the sticks into the seventh as Harper's reliever Anthony Santos tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning to seal the 15-7 road victory.

At the plate, Morehouse and Jansen collectively paced the Stormers' offense with two hits apiece, including one double each. Jansen added two RBIs and a run scored while Morehouse had one RBI and a pair of runs scored.

Game 2 - Merline tosses a gem to hand Harper its first loss
Things got a little scary in Game 2 when the Hawks found themselves with a chance to tie or take the lead with the bases juiced and zero outs in the seventh, but Stormers' starter Michael Merline dug deep enough to limit the damage to one run and help secure a 2-1 home victory in Game 2.

"Harper has a really good squad and Merline stepped up," Bounds said. "At the end of the day, Merline did exactly what we needed him to do. He came in and threw strikes and that just goes to show you how good of a team we can be when we are clicking on all cylinders."

Merline's performance on the bump was nothing short of fantastic. The righty gave up just two hits and one run (zero earned) over seven innings, striking out six and walking two with a 67 percent strike rate (53-for-79). His efficient night pouding the zone was a drastic improvement from his fellow teammates that combined to throw just 89 total strikes out of 178 pitches in Game 1.

"It just goes to show you how effective you can be and it really helped us because we just used five arms a game before," Bounds said of Merline. "We still got two more games here in the next day, and so to save the bullpen and do that, it was huge."

With Merline on his "A" game, the Stormers' offense didn't need to do too much. With Ethan Morehouse on first with one out in the second, Lucas Hernandez barreled a single to left field that would eventually score Morehouse following a defensive error by the Hawks. MATC carried its 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth, where they added an insurance run on an RBI single by Carlito Collins.

That insurance run by Collins proved to be pivotal as Merline opened the top of the seventh by walking two straight batters before Harper's Joey Glazier reached on an error to load the bases with no outs. Feeling the tide starting to turn, coach Bounds stuck with Merline instead of opting to go to his bullpen. It resulted in the Hawks scoring on a fielder's choice before Merline closed things out with a strikeout and groundout.

"We just went with our gut," Bounds said of keeping Merline in the seventh. "The numbers and the books probably tell you to pull him, but sometimes you just gotta have a feel for it and we just felt like he was the best option for us. I'm glad we kept him in because it worked out for us."

The one-run home victory helped the Stormers improve their record to 7-6 and 1-3 at home. MATC totaled four hits and four drawn walks, with Riley Emons leading the way with three walks. Camdin Jansen, Cole Wissen, Hernandez and Collins each had one single apiece.

UP NEXT
MATC (7-6) will travel to Triton College for a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Wednesday.