Lakers Settle For Split Against Crimson Wave

CRESTWOOD, Ill. – For the second day in a row, a big inning forced Roosevelt to settle for a split in its Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday against Calumet St. Joseph at Ozinga Field.

The Lakers (22-20, 13-13 CCAC) won a pitcher's duel to start the day with a 4-3 win in the seven-inning affair. The Crimson Wave responded by scoring four runs in the third inning and making that lead last in a 7-2 win to close out the day.

The first game didn't seem destined for such a low-scoring contest when the teams combined for five runs in the first inning. Calumet St. Joseph struck for two runs in the top half of the frame before Roosevelt came right back with three in its half of the inning. After allowing those two runs, Omar Abuelhija settled down and was credited with three strikeouts and five hits against him in five innings to move to an impressive 6-0 on the season.

Roosevelt's half of the first started with Jojo Mack reaching on an error from the Crimson Wave's second baseman. Bryce Hayman followed with a single that sent Mack to third base, setting the stage for Kekoa Ogawa to crush a double into left field to score Mack and put runners on second and third. James Berry's well-placed groundout to second base allowed Hayman to score and Ogawa to move up 90 feet. Luis Delgado then sliced a single up the middle to complete the three-run frame.

Ogawa led off the third inning with a towering home run to left field to give the Lakers a 4-2 lead. Abuelhija allowed a double to start the sixth then exited the game with AJ Gliwa masterfully allowing just the leadoff double to score to escape the inning. Ogawa then pitched a perfect ninth inning for his fourth save of the season.

Caleb Moore found himself in some trouble in the first inning of the second game through no fault of his own with the Crimson Wave scoring a run off two Lakers errors in the field. But the Roosevelt defense also saved a run when Mack caught a fly ball in right field then pinged a throw home to nab the runner trying to score. In the bottom of the frame, Berry hit a ground-rule double to right field that scored Hayman from second after he worked a walk in his at-bat.

The Lakers were at their best in the second game with two outs in the inning as seven of their 10 hits in the contest came when Roosevelt was down to its final out. That was not only true of Berry's RBI double in the first inning, but also his run-scoring single in the fifth and Sebastian Casillas' RBI single in the ninth. Roosevelt left 13 runners on base in the contest, eight of which reached base when two outs had already been recorded.

Calumet St. Joseph broke open the game with four runs in the third inning to take a 5-1 lead then added on important insurance markers in the eighth and ninth innings. The Lakers had their chances to cut into the deficit in the later innings, especially when they had runners on second and third with one out in the sixth inning. Roosevelt also had two runners on base in the ninth inning with Ogawa and Berry both drawing walks before Casillas' single. A wild pitch even brought Casillas and Berry to second and third, respectively, giving the Lakers a glimmer of hope.

Roosevelt heads into the final week of the regular season with a three-game lead over Calumet St. Joseph for the final spot in the CCAC Tournament in two weeks. The Lakers will play a doubleheader at Judson on Tuesday before facing Indiana South Bend, which is four games behind Roosevelt, in a four-game weekend series. Roosevelt will head to Indiana on Friday for a doubleheader before welcoming the Titans on Saturday.