OAK CREEK, Wis. – MATC baseball did its best to try and hang with No. 4 ranked Madison College during Tuesday's home doubleheader, but the Stormers's offense couldn't quite get going as they ultimately suffered back-to-back defeats.

In the opener, MATC suffered a 17-0 shutout loss in six innings before dropping the second game, 9-4, in seven innings. Both losses left the Stormers to drop to 25-19 and 15-17 in Region 4 play.

"You just have to go out and play your brand of baseball and I just thought that today we didn't have the energy that we've had all season long," MATC head coach Caleb Bounds said. "Hopefully it was just because we were coming off Easter break."

Game 1: Madison 17, Stormers 0 (6 Innings)
Multiple defensive errors and a lack of offense against Madison's starter Quinn Falish proved to be the difference in MATC taking a 17-0 shutout loss in six innings during Game 1 of its home doubleheader.

In its entirety, the Stormers' offense totaled as many hits (5) as they did defensive errors (5).

"It's a tough one and there isn't much to be said," MATC head coach Caleb Bounds said. "It just wasn't a well executed game and we had five errors in the field. It's just tough to win, especially when you're going up against a really good team that's ranked No. 4 in the country. Madison went out and showed it in Game 1."

The WolfPack broke things open by scoring one run in the second, followed by three runs in the third, two runs in the fourth and one run in the fifth. It wasn't until the top of the sixth that Madison was able to completely break things open with a 10-spot. In the sixth, the WolfPack totaled eight hits, two walks, and two hit-by-pitches that were aided by one error and multiple mental mistakes.

Most of the damage by Madison came after Stormers' ace Michael Merline's day on the mound was cut short after 3 and ⅓ innings. His day ended giving up six runs (three earned) on seven hits while striking out four and walking three.

"Merline competed, but he just lost his breaking ball there early in the game and it took him a while to find it again," Bounds said of his ace on the bump. "Whenever you have a good team like Madison and they are relying on one-pitch, they are going to take full advantage of that and they did. They were able to score runs early before blowing it open with a 10-spot in the last inning."

Outside of Merline, MATC looked to its bullpen early and often by tossing four more arms. Connor Ziman had the best outing in relief, allowing zero runs on one hit with a strikeout over ⅔ innings pitched. Alex Dvorak, Mitchel Meinke, and Sean Lee also all saw relief action, where they combined to surrender 11 runs (nine earned) on 10 hits.

STAT BOOK (Game 1)
Camdin Jansin paced the Stormers with a pair of singles and two stolen bases. Marco Falletti and Easton Morehouse each added one double. Lucas Hernandez chipped in one single and Merline took the loss to move to 4-2 on the mound.

Game 2: Madison 9, Stormers 4 (7 Innings)
Similarly to Game 1, MATC's offense couldn't quite get going despite a solid bounce-back effort in the field that left them to only commit one error defensively.

The Stormers totaled eight hits on the evening, six of which came over the final two innings where they scored all four of their runs.

Trailing 7-0 midway through the sixth, MATC opened the bottom half of the sixth inning with back-to-back leadoff singles from Peyton Flees and Camdin Jansen. Marco Falletti then grounded out into a double play before Bryant Armijo-Martin plated Flees in on an RBI double to help put MATC on the board. Armijo-Bryant would later score in the inning off a wild pitch.

After cutting the deficit to five runs, the Stormers' defense committed their only error in the top of the seventh, which led to two runs and extended the deficit to 9-2. Down to its last at-bat, MATC carried its momentum created from the sixth into the seventh innings. Robert Crawford III smacked a leadoff triple that helped set up Jake Hall for an RBI single to cut the deficit to seven runs. Flees drew a walk before later scoring on an RBI single from Jansen to help plate the final run of the game.

"I just thought our approaches were better and we had much better energy in the dugout there during the last few innings," MATC head coach Caleb Bounds said of his team's ability to come alive late. "That's the biggest thing, it starts with that by coming out with a little more energy and tenacity."

A key role in the Stormers' five-run loss came in the top of the fourth inning, where MATC allowed a five-run inning. During Madison's five-spot, the WolfPack totaled five hits that were aided by three walks.

"We had some bang-bang plays that didn't go our way in the fourth, but that's baseball," Bounds said of the five-run fourth-inning by Madison. "You have to limit the damage there, and not allow it to be a five-run inning and try to stop it at one or two runs. Overall, I'm just glad that we played better baseball over the final two innings."

MATC's Max Mueller took the loss despite another valiant effort on the mound. The sophomore righty fired three innings, giving up four earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts. Patrick Wadja, Ethan Engelbrecht, Jake Lequia, Jake Catalano and Evan Phillips all saw one-inning or less of relief action. The five relievers combined to allow five runs (three earned) on three hits that were aided by five walks and two hit-by-pitches.

STAT BOOK (Game 2)
Jansen went 2-for-4 with an RBI to help pace the Stormers with the sticks. Flees added one single and a run scored. Armijo-Bryant recorded one RBI double and a run scored. Jake Hall had one RBI single in three plate appearances. Mueller suffered the loss to drop to 2-2 on the year.

UP NEXT
MATC (25-19) will travel to College of DuPage at 3 p.m. Wednesday to resume play from its suspended game on Apr. 17.