The Madison College baseball team is riding a five-game winning streak as it looks to finish the regular season strong. A nine-inning game with Oakton College on May 5 will mark the end of the season, giving the WolfPack a chance to celebrate its sophomores.
Madison College is now 27-9 overall. Most recently the team swept a doubleheader against Kankakee Community College on April 27, beat the College of Lake County in a nine-inning game on April 21 and took a pair of games from Triton College on April 20.
A four-run fifth inning powered Madison College to a 5-1 victory in the first game against Kankakee. Will Johannes had two hits and two runs batted in to lead the WolfPack, while Jalen Gelling and Charlie Schau both added a pair of hits. Michael Carpenter pitched a complete game win, allowing just one run on six hits.
Madison College was more dominant in the second game against Kankakee, winning 10-1. The WolfPack had 12 hits in the game, led by Schau who had four hits.
Three pitchers combined for the win. Eli Hoyt, Ryan Karst and Allen Leitner limited Kankakee to just five hits.
Madison College posted a 7-3 victory in nine innings against the College of Lake County on April 21. The key hit in the win was a three-run home run by Johannes in the bottom of the third inning, his eighth of the season and 19th of his career.
Another strong pitching performance by Carpenter helped the WolfPack get off to a strong start in its doubleheader against Triton College on April 20. Carpenter struck out 13 batters in a two-hit shutout as Madison College posted a 13-0 victory. The WolfPack had 18 hits in the game, led by Charlie Marion and Johannes who both had three hits.
In the second game, Madison College gained the lead with a four-run second inning and never trailed after that, winning 9-3. The inning was powered by three-straight two-out hits by Howie Rickett, Nick Nowak and Jake Petasek. Rickett finished with three runs batted in on two hits. Grant Ross earned the winning, allowing three runs on eight hits over five innings.
Through 34 games this season, the WolfPack has six players hitting over .300. Marion leads the team at .387, while Shau follows at .382 and Peyton Frehner is at .379. Nowak is hitting .355, Jake Petasek is at .333 and Jalen Gellings is at .326. Johannes is just behind at .298.
Marion and Johannes lead the team with eight homers.
The pitching staff is led by Michael Carpenter, who has a 5-2 record and a 1.22 earned run average. He has three shutouts this season and has pitched a team-high 44.1 innings with 69 strikeouts.
Liam Stumpf has a 3-2 record and a 2.91 earned run average. He has pitched 34 innings and posted 29 strikeouts.