Baseball Sweeps CCAC Conference Doubleheader From Saint Francis

CRESTWOOD, Ill. – The Roosevelt University baseball team swept a CCAC Conference doubleheader from the University of Saint Francis on Saturday, April 2, winning the first game by the score of 6-3 and the second game 6-5 in 10 innings at Ozinga Field.  With the doubleheader sweep, the Lakers are now 6-3 in conference play and 12-12 overall this season.

The first game of the day was delayed two hours due to rain, but the Laker bats were ready to go, scoring three runs in the first inning.  Hunter Darst hit a one-out triple to left center and his courtesy runner, Luca Paolucci, scored on a ground out by Jojo Mack.  With two outs, Trevor Heinlein singled to right field and then moved to third on a double by Jaylen Heard.  Nick McAlister followed with a base hit to center to score both runners and give RU a 3-0 lead.

The Lakers added another run in the second inning to up their lead to 4-0.  Andrew Olszewski and Tom Sabo led off the inning with back-to-back singles and Jesus Gomez reached on an error, scoring Olszewski.

The Fighting Saints climbed back into the game, scoring solo runs in three straight innings to close the gap to 4-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.  However, the Lakers answered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to extend their lead to 6-3.  Sean Blanchard led off with a pinch-hit base hit and his pinch runner, Tom Sabo, scored on a triple by Daniel Gutierrez with Darst bringing in Gutierrez on a sacrifice fly to center field.  USF threatened in the final inning, loading the bases with one out, but Noah Mathias came on in relief and retired the next two batters to earn the save.

Roosevelt scored first in game two as well, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third with Gutierrez singling, advancing on a fielder's choice, and scoring on an error.  The Lakers added to their lead in the next inning with Jesus Gomez hitting a two-run homer to score Olszewski, who had singled earlier in the inning.

Saint Francis finally broke through with a run against RU starting pitcher Bryan Green in the sixth inning, hitting three consecutive singles to push its run across the plate.  However, in the bottom of half of the inning, RU got a run if its own with Olszewski tripling to right center and scoring a batter later on a base hit by Blanchard.  The Lakers also scored another run in the seventh to make it a 5-1 ballgame when Sabo singled to score Paolucci, who pinch-ran for Jaylen Heard after reaching on a fielder's choice.

It appeared the Lakers had the game solidified, but the Fighting Saints had other ideas.  The visitors put together a four-run, ninth-inning rally on four hits and an error to tie the game at 5-5 and send the contest to extra innings.

Isaac Riegler retired the first two USF batters in the top of the 10^th and then allowed a single, but catcher Hunter Darst threw out the base runner on an attempted to steal to end the inning.  In the bottom half, Gutierrez hit a one-out triple to left center to put the winning run 90 feet away.  The Fighting Saints intentionally walked the next two batters to load the bases with one out, and Heinlein came to the plate and was hit by a pitch to bring in Gutierrez with the game winning run in the late hours of the night.

GAME ONE DETAILS

Score:   Saint Francis       0  0  0  1  1  1  0                 3   11   3
                Roosevelt            3  1  0  0  0  2  X                 6   14   2

W: Kerry Zeese (2-1)       L: Angel Sandoval (2-3)                 S: Noah Mathias (1)

Records: Roosevelt 11-12, 5-3 (CCAC) | Saint Francis 13-19, 9-4 (CCAC)

Location: Ozinga Field | Crestwood, Ill.

KEY STATS

• Kerry Zeese earned the win to raise his record to 2-1, pitching 4 2/3 innings & allowing two runs on four hits
• Nick McAlister went 2-for-3 with two RBI
• Hunter Darst was 2-for-3 with a triple & RBI
• Jojo Mack went 2-for-4 with a run batted in
• Andrew Olszewski was 2-for-3 with a run scored
• Trevor Heinlein went 2-for-4 with a run scored
• Jaylen Heard was 1-for-3 with a double & a run scored
• Daniel Gutierrez went 1-for-4 with a triple, RBI, & run scored
• Tom Sabo was 1-for-2 with a run scored
• Noah Mathias picked up his first save of the year, not allowing a run or hit in 2/3 of an inning with a strikeout

GAME TWO DETAILS

Score:   Saint Francis       0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  4  0                   5   13   2
                Roosevelt            0  0  1  2  0  1  1  0  0  1                   6   13   1

W: Isaac Riegler (3-1       L: Sam Pileggi (1-1)

Records: Roosevelt 12-12, 6-3 (CCAC) | Saint Francis 13-20, 9-5 (CCAC)

Location: Ozinga Field | Crestwood, Ill.

KEY STATS

• Bryan Green had a strong day on the mound, going 7 2/3 innings & allowing just one run on seven hits with a strikeout & a walk
• Daniel Gutierrez went 4-for-6 with a double, triple, & two runs scored
• Jesus Gomez was 1-for-4 with a homerun, & two RBI
• Andrew Olszewski went 2-for-3 with a triple & two runs scored
• Jaylen Heard & Nick McAlister were both 2-for-5 with McAlister hitting a double
• Tom Sabo & Sean Blanchard each had a run batted in
• Isaac Riegler pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win & raise his record to 3-1

NEWS & NOTES

• The Lakers won the season series from the Fighting Saints after dropping the first game 5-2 on April 1
• RU now holds a 10-20 record in the all-time series versus USF
• Click here to view the current CCAC Conference standings

NEXT UP

The Lakers continue CCAC Conference action on Tuesday, April 5 when they host Olivet Nazarene University for a doubleheader.  First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1pm at Ozinga Field in Crestwood, Ill.