Baseball: Lockwood’s clutch hit in seventh gives Libertyville comeback win over Mundelein, tightens NSC race

After losing to host Mundelein 11-9 on Monday, Libertyville wanted to avoid getting swept by the Mustangs Tuesday afternoon in North Suburban Conference baseball action.

The Wildcats were down to their last out, but senior Chase Lockwood came through with a 2-run double off the top of the center field fence to drive in what proved to be the tying and winning runs in an exciting 4-3 NSC victory.

"My last couple of at-bats I kind of just rolled over it, and I tried to get the head of the bat out and do some damage," said Lockwood of his game-winning hit. "This win gives us a bunch of confidence, and if we lose that game we probably don't have a chance at the conference title."

Mundelein (9-5, 5-1) jumped on University of Tennessee-bound Libertyville starter Brady Buenik for 3 runs on 4 hits in the bottom of the first.

An infield hit by Johnny Weiss started the rally before a single by Maddox Solum put runners on first and third. Ryan Wolverton walked to load the bases before a fielder's choice RBI by Logan Young drove in Weiss for a 1-0 lead. Pete Nanos drove in two runs with a high-hop double down the left-field line and Mundelein held a quick 3-0 lead.

The Mustangs had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the second inning, but Buenik worked out of the jam with no damage done to keep the score at 3-0.

"Obviously they put up a 3-spot in the first inning, but the turning point of the game was him (Buenik) getting out of the second with bases loaded and no outs," said Libertyville coach Matt Thompson, whose team is the defending Class 4A state champions. "He (Lockwood) just has a really nice swing, and he's the guy you want competing with two outs in the seventh."

A walk by sophomore catcher Weston Wyzokovicz started the Wildcats’ first scoring rally in the top of the third. A single by Matt Hara (2-for-4) put runners on first and third before a sacrifice fly by Trevor Wallace off Mundelein starter Miller Rastrelli cut the deficit to 3-1.

Libertyville (11-6-1, 4-2) got another run in the top of the fifth when Hara led off with a double, moved to third on an error, and scored on a wild pitch to pull within 3-2.

Buenik left the game after four innings with a blister on his finger before junior Madden Cotts pitched the final 3 innings to get the win. Rastrelli went 5 2/3 innings on the mound before Young came in with two outs in the top of the sixth.

"We let them hang in the game, and we had a couple of scoring opportunities that they worked out of," said Mundelein coach Randy Lerner, whose team was outhit 8-7. "This was our first loss this season in Illinois, but I'm still very optimistic about the team."

A two-out single in the top of the seventh by Braden Tolzien started Libertyville's go-ahead rally. Aksel McKnight walked before Tolzien and pinch-runner Brayden Ways scored on Lockwood's RBI double to account for the final score.

Cotts got the top of the Mustangs lineup to go down in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the victory.