Baseball Splits CCAC Conference Doubleheader on the Road Versus Saint Ambrose

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Roosevelt University baseball team split a CCAC Conference doubleheader on Saturday, April 16 versus Saint Ambrose University (Iowa), dropping the first game by the score of 10-3 and winning the second game by the score of 10-7 in 11 innings at the Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex on the campus of Mount Mercy University.  The Lakers are now 10-10 in conference play and 16-20 overall on the season.

The first game of the day started off promising for the Lakers with the visitors scoring all three of their runs in the opening inning.  Jojo Mack singled to left field and advanced into scoring position on an error, coming in with the game's first run on a Trevor Heinlein base hit.  Heinlein then stole second base and scored on a Hunter Darst single up the middle for a 2-0 lead.  Luca Paolucci came in as a courtesy runner for Darst and scored after three straight walks to Jaylen Heard, Nick McAlister, and Andrew Olszewski.

Unfortunately, the Lakers could not generate any additional offense in the contest, while the Fighting Bees scored two runs in both the second and third innings and blew open the game with a six-run sixth inning for the 10-3 win.

In game two, the Lakers once again took a quick lead, this time scoring two runs in the first inning.  Darst hit a double to right center and scored a batter later on a base hit up the middle by Heinlein.  Heard followed with a base hit of his own to advance Heinlein to third and Olszewski came through with a two-out single to bring in Heinlein for the 2-0 lead.

Saint Ambrose answered with four runs on four hits in the bottom of the second inning to take a 4-2 advantage, but Roosevelt cut the deficit to 4-3 with a run in the third inning.  Sean Blanchard singled to right center and his pinch runner, Luca Paolucci, stole second base and scored on a McAlister base hit.  However, the Fighting Bees pushed their lead to 7-3 in the bottom half of the inning with three runs on three hits.

The Lakers chipped away at the lead with solo runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to trail 7-5.  In the fourth, Darst singled to right field and scored on a Heinlein double to right center, while in the fifth inning, McAlister reached first on an error, stole second and third, and scored on a wild pitch.

Roosevelt tied the game late in the eighth inning with Jojo Mack getting things started when he was hit by a pitch and then stole second base.  Heard drove in Mack with a double to right center and Sean Blanchard followed with a triple to score Luca Paolucci, who was running for Blanchard, to tie the game at 7-7.

The Fighting Bees threatened to win the game twice late, loading the bases in both the bottom of the ninth and tenth innings. In the ninth, the home team loaded the bases with one out, but Chris Miller got the next two batters out with a strikeout and a ground out to keep the Lakers alive.  Saint Ambrose had runners at all bases with two outs in the 10^th inning, but Miller earned another strikeout to end that threat as well.

In the top of the 11^th inning, Olszewski doubled down the left field line and scored on a McAlister base hit to give RU an 8-7 lead.  McAlister then stole second base and scored on a Jonathan Salm base hit to center field to make it a 9-7 game.  Two batters later, Mack doubled down the left field line to bring in Jesus Gomez, who had reached on a fielder's choice for the 10-7 lead.  In the bottom half of the inning, TJ Murray came on in relief and closed out the game for the Lakers conference victory.

GAME ONE DETAILS

W: Michael Dudek (7-0)                 L: Kerry Zeese (3-2)

Records: Roosevelt 15-20, 9-10 (CCAC) | Saint Ambrose 25-7, 16-3 (CCAC)

Location: Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex | Cedar Rapids, Iowa

KEY STATS

• Hunter Darst went 1-for-3 with an RBI
• Andrew Olszewski drove in an RBI & walked twice
• Trevor Heinlein was 1-for-4 with an RBI & run scored
• Jojo Mack & Luca Paolucci each scored a run
• Kerry Zeese suffered the loss to fall to 3-2 on the year, pitching 2 1/3 innings & allowing four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts & two walks

GAME TWO DETAILS

W: Chris Miller (3-0)        L: Parker Ruth (1-1)         S: TJ Murray (1)

Records: Roosevelt 16-20, 10-10 (CCAC) | Saint Ambrose 25-8, 16-4 (CCAC)

Location: Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex | Cedar Rapids, Iowa

KEY STATS

• Trevor Heinlein was 3-for-6 with a double, two RBI, & a run scored
• Jojo Mack aslo went 3-for-6 with a double, an RBI, & a run scored
• Nick McAlister was 2-for-6 with two RBI & two runs scored
• Jaylen Heard went 2-for-5 with a double & an RBI
• Hunter Darst was 2-for-6 with a double & two runs scored
• Sean Blanchard went 2-for-5 with a triple & an RBI
• Andrew Olszewski was 2-for-6 with a double, RBI, & a run scored
• Chris Miller threw two scoreless innings in relief to raise his record to 3-0, allowing one hit with two strikeouts & five walks
• TJ Murray earned his first save in relief without allowing a run or hit

NEWS & NOTES

• The Lakers lost the season series to the Fighting Bees two games to one
• RU is now 5-16 versus Saint Ambrose in the all-time series
• The Lakers are currently in sixth place of the CCAC with a 10-10 record
• The Fighting Bees currently sit in second place of the CCAC with a 16-4 record
• Click here to view the current CCAC Conference standings

NEXT UP

The Lakers continue CCAC Conference action on Tuesday, April 19 when they take on Trinity Christian College in a doubleheader.  First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1pm at Schaaf Athletic Complex in Palos Heights, Ill.