Roosevelt Sweeps CCSJ, Secures Third Seed In CCAC Tourney

WHITING, Ind. – Roosevelt easily swept Calumet St. Joseph on Saturday afternoon in Whiting, Ind. to lock up the No. 3 seed in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament next week.

The Lakers (16-18, 11-5 CCAC) opened the day with a 6-3 win over the Crimson Wave before cruising to an 11-4 win in the second game. The third-seeded Lakers will face the No. 6 seed in the first round of the CCAC Tournament on Thursday in Crown Point, Ind. Roosevelt will play at 3 p.m. in the opening round and will then play again Thursday at 5 p.m. against St. Francis, the No. 2 seed, if the Lakers win the opener.

Nothing much was going for the Lakers in the opener until the fourth inning when Anaisa Lozada and Brynn Dvoracek both earned walks to start the frame. A fielder's choice and passed ball brought Isabella Walton to the plate, who sent a deep fly ball to center field that allowed Dvoracek to score and put the first run on the board.

In the fifth inning, Ella Dvoracek led off with an infield single then motored to third on an error that allowed Scout Kram to reach base and move up to second. Athena Pomele-Pen drove in a run with a groundout and another passed ball later in the frame allowed Kram to score. Brynn Dvoracek closed out the three-run fifth with a double into right field that scored Lozada, who reached on a hit by pitch.

Pomele-Pen made it 6-0 Lakers in the top of the sixth with a two-run single into center field that drove in a pair of leadoff walks. That was more than enough for Samantha Norman, who was mowing down batters in the first five innings. The senior struck out two batters in each of the first two innings and allowed just two hits in the first five frames in the circle. Norman finished with nine strikeouts while allowing only seven hits in the complete-game victory.

Picking up where she left off in the first game, Pomele-Pen crushed a two-run homer in the first inning of the second contest to put the Lakers up 2-0. A fielding error on an Emily Zuniga batted ball allowed Brynn Dvoracek to score in the second inning to increase the lead, but Nicole Reynolds fell into some trouble in the bottom of the third.

In her first career start, Reynolds safely navigated the first two innings, but she couldn't escape the jam after a double play in the third. Kate Sisson came on in relief for the Lakers and pitched the final 4 1/3 innings, allowing just three hits with one strikeout to earn her fifth win of the season.

The Crimson Wave may have left the third inning with a 4-3 lead, but it didn't stay that way for long. Walton doubled to lead off the fourth inning then Caitlin Williams sacrificed pinch runner Emma Wokurka over to third. Ella Dvoracek tied the game with a single into center field then Kram followed with a single back into center field. Pomele-Pen reached via an error to set up Bailee Reynolds for her second career home run, this one a grand slam that gave Roosevelt an 8-4 edge.

Pomele-Pen added an RBI groundout in the fifth, Wokurka drove in a run with a sixth-inning single then Reynolds added her fifth RBI with a single in the seventh inning.

Roosevelt will return home Sunday for a doubleheader against Northwestern Ohio at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont starting at 2 p.m.