MT. CARMEL, Ill. -- Lake Land overcame an early 2-0 deficit to defeat Wabash Valley, 6-2, in the second game of a Great Rivers Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday at Fournier Field. 

The loss forced the 9th-ranked Warriors to settle for a split on the day, after overwhelming the Lakers in the opener, 18-6. 

Both games were streamed live on ESPN+ as part of the NJCAA Game of the Week package 

The split left Wabash Valley with a 26-9 record overall and an 11-2 mark in GRAC games, which dropped them to second place in the league standings behind Southwestern (7-1 in GRAC). 

WVC led 2-0 after four innings of the nitecap, when suddenly everything fell apart. The Lakers scored four runs in the fifth, then added single tallies in the sixth and seventh to completely turn the game in their favor. 

In stark contrast to the opener. 

"The difference to me was that in the first game we grinded out at bats and we took our walks," said Warrior coach Aaron Biddle. "In (the second) game we were too aggressive, and we came out of our approach. We made 14 one and two-pitch outs. You do not get into bullpens that way and you do not beat baseball teams." 

That gave Lake Land starting pitcher Liam Mckillop a chance to stay in the game longer. Which the sophomore righthander from Chicago certainly did, going the distance for the win. He is now 5-1 on the year. 

"He was really good," Biddle said of Mckillop. "He came right at us and threw a lot of strikes." 

Wabash Valley scored their only runs of the game in the first inning. Isaias Villarreal lined a two-out double which scored Nicklas Williams and Keaton Mahan and the Warriors appeared to be off and running. 

Luke Leverton took the loss for WVC, falling to 2-2 on the year. He threw 4 1/3 innings, striking out seven and walking only two. He allowed five hits. 

In the opener, Jorge Rodriguez had a monster game at the plate for the Warriors. He smashed a one-out grand slam home run in the first inning, then added a second shot in the sixth and wound up with six RBIs and a 5-for-5 game. 

"Jorge had a great day at the plate. He was outstanding today," Biddle said. 

Rodriguez' long balls were Nos. 3 and 4 on the year, second on the club to Williams, who has eight. 

Other multi-hit games came from: Williams (3 hits), Richard Bonomolo, Jr. (2), Bruce Jellison (2), and Zamuarion Hatcher (2). 

Hatcher also finished with four RBIs on the day. Williams, Jellison, and Luke Evans each finished with two. 

Agnel Miranda picked up his fifth win on the hill, going four innings with the start. He was relieved by Aidan Deakins, McGwire Taylor, and Cohl Proctor. 

Wabash Valley outhit the Lakers, 19-7 in the finale. 

Tuesday, the Warriors play a GRAC doubleheader at Shawnee (7-20, 2-11). The first pitch is at 12-noon CDT.