Late-Game Heroics Push Lakers To Sweep

CRESTWOOD, Ill. – Roosevelt's bats showed up when it mattered the most Monday to help the Lakers complete a sweep of a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Ozinga Field against Olivet Nazarene.

The Lakers (13-10, 4-4 CCAC) scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of the first game to win 14-9 in the seven-inning contest. Jack Kieffer then delivered a walk-off double in the 10^th inning of game two to lift Roosevelt to a 9-8 decision over the Tigers. Roosevelt combined for 33 total hits between the two games and scored a run in half of the innings in which it went to the plate.

The offense was ready from the outset in both games Monday as the Lakers did their part to stake their starters to early leads. In the opener, Roosevelt scored three runs on four hits with two outs to take an early 3-0 lead. The Lakers then scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning of the second game as well.

Griffin Lamarche skated through the first inning of the opener with ease against the Tigers then turned the game over to the Lakers' bats. Kekoa Ogawa got things going with a double into straightaway center field then he scored on Luis Delgado's line drive to left. Kieffer found a hole through the right side to extend the frame for James Berry to crush a two-run double.

After Lamarche escaped with a tie game in the second, the Lakers went right back to work without waiting for two outs. Luca Paolucci doubled into the gap in left field then Jojo Mack beat out a well-hit grounder to the shortstop. Bryce Hayman walked to load the bases and Delgado then unloaded them with a double off the left-field wall that nearly left the yard for a grand slam. Kieffer brought home Delgado with another single to make it 7-3 Lakers.

Ogawa tied the game with an RBI groundout in the fourth inning, but he saved his most impressive feat for the sixth. Sebastian Casillas began the sixth inning with a bunt single before Hayman unleashed a triple over the head of the center fielder to tie the game at 9-9. That brought Ogawa to the plate and the first pitch he saw was demolished more than 400 feet with a sound that left everyone in the ballpark speechless. Berry later drove in two runs with a triple and Paolucci capped off the insurance tallies with an RBI sacrifice bunt.

There was a need for a little more heroics in the second game despite the Lakers again proving the might of the top of their lineup. A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases right out of the gate in the first inning, setting up Delgado for an RBI groundout. Kieffer followed with a single into right field that scored Hayman before a bobble allowed Ogawa to come around and score as well. Paolucci then drove a ball deep into left field for a sacrifice-fly RBI.

Roosevelt tacked on three more runs in the third inning after the Tigers took a 5-4 lead, relying on some defensive miscues from Olivet Nazarene. Berry tripled with a rocket into the gap and Sammy Estrada tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Paolucci then gave the Lakers the lead with an inside-the-park home run courtesy of the Tigers center fielder barely missing a diving grab and the ball rolling all the way to the wall. Casillas then stole home on a throw to second base that nabbed Mack trying to steal second.

The first critical hit from Kieffer in the second game came in the sixth inning when his single into right field plated Ogawa from second and gave the Lakers an 8-7 edge. But the real heroics came in the 10^th inning when Ogawa again doubled and found himself on the verge of being stranded on second base with two outs. Kieffer got a hold of the offering from the Tigers pitcher and drove the ball down the right field line, easily touching second before his teammates mobbed him after Ogawa officially ended the game by touching home plate.

Kieffer was 5 for 9 with four RBIs and three runs scored between the two games, leading a balanced attack from the Lakers lineup. Ogawa finished 4 of 9 with three RBIs and five runs scored while Delgado drove in five runs in a 4 for 9 outing in the two games. Berry went 3 for 4 with four RBIs in the opener then batted 2 for 4 in the second game with a run scored.

Caleb Moore threw four innings of two-hit ball to record the win in the first game of the day, while Ogawa got the final five outs in the second game to secure his first win of the campaign. Angel Morales also threw 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in the second game, including getting out of the bases-loaded jam he inherited in the seventh inning without surrendering a run.

Roosevelt returns to the field Friday afternoon for a road doubleheader at St. Francis starting at 1 p.m. then returns back to Ozinga Field on Saturday to face the Fighting Saints in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.