Super sophs: VaDeer and Meyer lead L-P past Rebels

Published 8:39 pm Thursday, May 4, 2023

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ADAMS – The weather was right, the crowd was big and the Lyle-Pacelli baseball team was at its best as it took down Southland 9-2 Thursday.

The Athletics (8-0 overall) scored an unearned run in the second and fourth innings to go up 2-0, and they pushed their lead to 4-0 when Jake Truckenmiller doubled in two runs in the top of the fifth.

“It ramps up in this rivalry, but it was good. It was good to have a great crowd and it was fun to have a game in nice, sunny weather for once,” L-P head coach Brock Meyer said. “We had a good day of practice yesterday and I knew that they would be ready to hit today. We finally hit the ball hard and even some of our outs were hit hard. We’re happy with that.”

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L-P was led by its sophomore duo of Hunter VaDeer, who struck out 13 in five scoreless innings, and Landon Meyer, who was two-for-three with a double.

“Last game we weren’t ready to play against Houston and we took that personally,” said Landon Meyer. “We needed to come ready to play today because we knew they were coming and it was a rivalry game. I’ve played with a lot of those (Southland) guys growing up and it’s a fun rivalry.”

VaDeer faced a big threat when the Rebels loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but he recorded back-to-back strikeouts to get out of trouble and preserve a 2-0 L-P lead. Southland also left runners on first and second in the fifth when VaDeer forced a fly-out from Travis Kirtz, who was two-for-four with a double, to end the frame.

“We picked each other up in tough situations,” VaDeer said. “Sometimes I get going too much and I speed up my tempo. Sometimes I need to slow down and Landon helped me a lot by just reminding me to take my time, take a breath and get right back in it.”

Tyson Stevens took the loss for the Rebels (7-1 overall).

LP 010  120  5  –  9  7  1

Southland 000  000  2  –  2  4  5

LP pitching: Hunter VaDeer (W) 5 H, 4 BB, 0 R, 13 K, HBP; Mac Nelson, 1 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 2 K; Jack Klingfus, 1 IP, 0 R, 1 K

LP hitting: Landon Meyer, 2-for-3, double, 2 R, BB; Mac Nelson, 1-for-3, RBI, R, HBP; Hunter VaDeer, 0-for-2, 2 R, HBP, BB; Jake Truckenmiller, 2-for-4, double, 2 RBIs, 2 R; Dane Schara, 1-for-4, RBI, R; Isaac Nelsen, 1-for-3, RBI, BB; Jack Klingfus, 0-for-3, BP; Trey Anderson, 0-for-3, BB; Logyn Brooks, 0-for-2, R, HBP

Southland pitching: Tyson Stevens (L) 5 2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 HBP, 4 K; Maverick Hannah, 2/3 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 ER, HBP; Gavin Nelsen, 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K

Southland hitting: Gavin Nelsen, 0-for-2, 2 BBs; Tyson Stevens, 0-for-2, RBI, 2 BBs; Jonas Wiste, 0-for-2, RBI, HBP, BB; Jack Bruggeman, 0-for-4; Royce Jax, 0-for-3; Riley Jax, 0-for-3; Easton Meyer, 1-for-3, R; Isaac Felten, 1-for-2, R, SB, BB