Lakers Sweep Fighting Bees To Open CCAC Play

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Roosevelt's timely hitting returned for the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener to help the Lakers sweep a doubleheader with St. Ambrose to open conference play with two wins Friday afternoon at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont.

Caitlin Williams beat out the throw to first in the bottom of the seventh inning of the first game of the day to lift the Lakers to a 4-3 win. The Lakers (7-14, 2-0 CCAC) won the second game 4-2 behind a stellar outing from Samantha Norman in the circle.

Norman earned the win in both contests after coming on in relief in the opener to secure the final two outs. She picked up a quick first out with a fly ball to left field then stranded the two runners on base with a punchout. She proceeded to strike out nine more hitters in her start to make quick work of a potent Fighting Bees offense.

The senior from Shorewood had a two-hit shutout going into the seventh inning of that second game before running into some trouble. St. Ambrose had back-to-back singles that broke the shutout then the Fighting Bees got the benefit of the doubt on a line drive down the third-base line, which scored another run. Yet, Norman responded with her second strikeout of the inning then induced an easy groundball to Anaisa Lozada to end the game.

Roosevelt made sure to spot Norman an early lead by taking advantage of a St. Ambrose error in the field. Ella Dvoracek led off the game for the Lakers by reaching second base on the throwing error and Lozada bunted her over to third. After an Emily Zuniga walk, Athena Pomele-Pen lined a single down the left-field line to drive in the game's first run.

The middle of the order came up clutch again in the third inning with Zuniga and Pomele-Pen hitting one-out singles. Bailee Reynolds made no mistake with the second pitch she saw in her at-bat, lacing it over the left-fielder's head for a two-run double. Brynn Dvoracek drove in the fourth run in the fifth inning with a single that scored Zuniga, who led off the frame with a single then stole second and third base.

The Lakers seemed to be cruising to a similarly comfortable win in the opener, but St. Ambrose had other plans. Brynn Dvoracek broke up the pitcher's duel in the fourth inning with a home run to the deepest part of the ballpark. Zuniga added an RBI groundout in the fifth inning to give the Lakers a 3-0 lead, and Kate Sisson was in a rhythm.

The fifth-year from Indiana had just struck out her seventh batter when the Fighting Bees reached on a bunt single in the sixth inning. A fielder's choice put runners on first and second then a walk loaded the bases with two outs. St. Ambrose then hit back-to-back singles to tie the game, and nearly took the lead if not for Scout Kram's pinpoint throw home to nab the go-ahead run from scoring.

Roosevelt loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth with three walks, but left all three runners on base. It felt like the same could happen in the seventh inning as well when the Lakers loaded the bases with one away. After Pomele-Pen and Reynolds singled, Brynn Dvoracek's grounder was scooped up to throw out the winning run on the force out. That brought Williams to the plate, and the speedy outfielder beat out the throw on a throw from the shortstop to win the game.

Reynolds finished 3 for 6 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs in the doubleheader as the Lakers' best bats were alive and well. Zuniga was 2 for 2 with a pair of runs scored in the second game while Pomele-Pen was 3 for 6 and Brynn Dvoracek was 3 for 7 over the course of the two games.

The Lakers are scheduled to visit Olivet Nazarene on Tuesday for their next conference doubleheader with first pitch listed at 2 p.m.