MEQUON, Wis. – The 24th-ranked Falcons stayed in control of the NACC North Division with a Monday afternoon split with MSOE. The 17th-ranked Raiders snapped the Falcons 15-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory in game one. The Falcons wrecked the Rider in game two, 8-3, to close the series.
The Raiders took the lead in the second inning with a run in the second inning.
MSOE struck again in the third inning with another run.
The Falcons were able to threaten with runners in scoring position in the second and third innings but were unable to capitalize.
The Red and Black added another run in the fifth inning.
Freshman Madison Wheat (Cowerta, Okla.) put the Falcons on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly to score sophomore Ashley Zappa (Zion, Ill.) in the fifth inning.
Senior Jenna Pozezinski (Lake Villa, Ill.) scored Ashley Zappa in the seventh inning, but the rally fell short.
Junior Gina Followell (Romeoville, Ill.) had nine strikeouts in the circle in game one.
Sophomore Sydney Erdmann (Geneva, Ill.) had three of the seven hits for CUW in game one.
Madison Wheat started the scoring in the second inning with a shot down the right-field line to score junior Kristen Fontana (Hickory Hills, Ill.) and junior Alyssa Vilkoski (Greenfield, Wis.).
Kristen Fontana drove a missile through the middle of the infield in the third inning to get Claudia Utz and Kelsey Bollon across home plate.
Leading by two runs, the Falcons cooled the Raider's comeback effort, getting out of a bases-loaded jam when junior Nicki Becker (Brodhead, Wis.) got Morgan Long to fly out to Kristen Fontana in right field.
Sophomore Claudia Utz (Lockport, Ill.) sent the ball flying out of the park in the fifth inning with a no-doubt smash to left field.
Junior Kelsey Powers (Westfield, Ind.) pushed the lead up to four runs with a double down the right-field line to score freshman Emily Walters (Waupun, Wis.).
The bat of Madison Wheat struck again in the fifth inning with a shot the crossed Kristen Fontana across the plate.
The CUW scoring finished when Sydney Erdmann singled to third base in the fifth inning to send home sophomore Gabbi Gaziano (Beloit, Wis.).
Kristen Fontana led game two with three hits and drove in two RBI.
Nicki Becker earned the victory in the circle and held the NACC's "best" offense to only four hits and finished with two strikeouts. Alyssa Vilkoski shut the door on the Raiders in the final two innings.
CUW closes the regular season this weekend with Lakeland. The Falcons can clinch a share of the North Division title with one victory.
