OAK CREEK, Wis. –  Milwaukee Area Technical College showed its versatility in a doubleheader sweep over Bay College at home Wednesday morning.

In Game 1, the Stormers' offense exploded for 13 hits in a dominant 12-3 win over the Norse. In the follow up game, MATC overcame an early 5-0 deficit in the first inning to help complete the series sweep by taking Game 2, 10-6, in seven innings. With the series sweep, MATC improved to 22-14 overall and 9-5 at home.

"Overall, I was proud of the guys and it's always great whenever you can get two wins," Stormers head coach Caleb Bounds said.

Game 1: Falletti leads the charge in Stormers' blowout win
MATC designated hitter Marco Falletti totaled three hits in three at-bats as the Stormers defeated Bay College 12-3 in the home opener of their doubleheader.

Falletti recorded RBI singles in each of the first, second, and fourth frames, all of which led the three separate three-run innings to help his squad take a commanding 9-3 lead through four.

"I was just trying not to overthink and do too much," Falletti said of his 3-for-3 three RBI day. "I wasn't trying to hit a home run, I just tried to score my teammates in and do a job."

MATC broke things open with a three-run first-inning after MATC starter Mitchel Meinke fired a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first. Falletti singled up the middle, Brady Johnson grounded out, and Cole Wissen hit a sac-fly, each scoring one run.

From there, the Stormers managed to extend their lead to 6-0 after another three-run inning in the bottom of the second. Bay College's defense committed an error, Falletti singled to center field, and Johnson grounded out, each scoring one run.

"We were very aggressive at the plate and we didn't let off their throats," Falletti said of his team's ability to string together four separate three-run innings. "We got ahead and we stayed ahead, and that's the biggest thing."

Leading 6-1 through two, the Norse managed to trim their deficit to a pair of runs after scoring one run in each of the third and fourth innings. MATC countered with another three-run inning in the bottom half of the fourth off RBI singles from Lucas Hernandez and Falletti and an RBI triple by Wissen.

Sean Lee picked up the win in relief action. He gave up one hit and one run (zero earned) over two innings of work, striking out none and walking one. Meinke lasted three innings in his start, giving up two runs on three hits while striking out two and walking three. Colin Weist closed things out with two scoreless innings, where the reliever only allowed one hit and zero walks.

"We're playing a ton of games, so we're trying to keep guys fresh and make sure they are staying engaged in games and everything like that," Bounds said of his bullpen in Game 1. "Today was a day where we're going to roll out a few different arms each game just because we have more games later this week and early next week…I thought they did a really good job coming in and competing."

STAT BOOK (Game 1)
Falletti led the charge with three RBI singles to pace the Stormers at the plate. Camdin Jansen went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Riley Emons and Carlito Collins each had two hits and two runs apiece. Jansen also chipped in a team-high three stolen bases. Lee (1-0) surrendered one unearned run over two innings of relief action to earn his first win on the mound this season.



Game 2: Stormers' bats wake up late in come-from-behind fashion
MATC trailed as many as five runs before erupting for a five-run fourth-inning that helped catapult the Stormers to a 10-6 win in seven innings.

"The biggest thing is guys are going to step up and show you what they're made of," MATC head coach Caleb Bounds said. "I thought they did a really good job of not letting that first inning take the wind out of our sails there. We did a good job, both defensively and offensively, and our pitching from the second inning on was great."

Bay College jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first, in large part due to a rough outing from MATC starter Vinny Cameranesi, who lasted ⅔ innings after giving up five earned runs on two hits and five walks.

Despite failing to record a single hit through three innings of play, the Stormers managed to trim their deficit to two runs after Leonardo Zerillo recorded a two-out RBI walk with the bases-loaded in the bottom half of the first and back-to-back RBI groundouts from Robert Crawford III and Camdin Jansen in the second.

It wasn't until the start of the fourth inning when MATC broke up Bay College's combined no-hit bid when Peyton Schumann got things started with a leadoff single. Schumann's single helped kick-start a five-run inning that saw six Stormers collect hits. Jansen plated the first run on an RBI single, scoring Robert Crawford III (double), followed by another run off an defensive error that saw Marco Falletti reach first on a ground ball. Ensuing hitter Cole Wissen then barreled a two-RBI single before Lucas Hernandez managed to record the final run of the inning on a RBI single that plated Bryant Armijo-Martin (single).

"I got a nice little bloop single and that seemed to get us going and then everyone followed suit," Schumann said of his team's five-run fifth. "It just makes it easier to hit when everybody else is hitting. It's contagious."

From that point on, the Stormers were able to remain in control after limiting Bay College to just one run in the sixth to help secure the four-run victory.

Outside of Cameranesi's shaky start, MATC got good production from its bullpen. Zach Johnson relieved Cameranesi of his starting duties in the first and allowed just two hits and zero runs while walking three and striking out four over 2 and ⅓ innings. Evan Phillips surrendered one earned run on one hit and two walks over three innings, striking out six. Alex Dvorak finished things off by tossing one scoreless inning of work with three strikeouts.

"We battled and at the end of the day, we just gotta continue to throw strikes and compete in the [strike] zone," Bounds said. "We started off a little rocky, but the bullpen did a really great job coming in after that first inning."

STAT BOOK (Game 2)
Crawford III went 2-for-4 with one double, two RBIs and a run to lead the Stormers at the plate. Jansen added two RBIs, two runs and one single. Wissen recorded a two-RBI single in three plate appearances. Ryan Quello, Zerillo, Armijo-Martin, Hernandez, and Schumann each had one hit apiece.





UP NEXT
MATC (22-14) will travel to Elgin at 3 p.m. Thursday for a nine-inning road game.