Roosevelt Nipped At Home In Regular Season Finale

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Roosevelt closed its regular season Sunday afternoon by narrowly getting swept by Northwestern Ohio at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont.

The Lakers (16-20) allowed the go-ahead run to score in the seventh inning of a 2-1 loss to open the doubleheader. In the second game, the Racers scored twice more in the top of the seventh for critical insurance runs in an eventual 5-3 win.

Despite Northwestern Ohio outhitting Roosevelt 9-3 in the first game, the score was tied at 1 entering the final frame. Kate Sisson was her vintage self, stranding runners on second and third with one out in the second inning with back-to-back strikeouts. The fifth-year then loaded the bases in the fourth inning with no outs, and managed to allow just a single run while striking out two of the four batters she saw the rest of the inning.

Roosevelt responded to the Racers scoring in the top of the fourth by manufacturing a run of its own in the bottom of the frame. Bailee Reynolds worked a one-out walk then was replaced on the base paths by Emma Wokurka. Anaisa Lozada launched the first pitch she saw in her at-bat over the head of the center fielder for a double that allowed Wokurka to tie the game.

Sisson finished the day allowing just six hits while the run she allowed was unearned in five innings of work. She also had five strikeouts in the game and stranded seven total runners on base. Samantha Norman came on to pitch the final two innings, and finished with three strikeouts while taking the tough-luck loss in the seventh.

Northwestern Ohio jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second game before Nicole Reynolds settled down in her second career start. The Lakers picked up their freshman pitcher by scoring in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game with Scout Kram blooping a bases-loaded single into left field with two outs. The Racers added two more in the fourth inning with consecutive doubles to lead off the inning before Reynolds avoided more damage with effective pitching.

Kram doubled to lead off the fifth inning on a hit that looked like it came out of Backyard Baseball with how much it spun away from the Northwestern Ohio fielders. Reynolds brought the Lakers within a run with a single, but that was as close as Roosevelt would get. The Racers added two in the seventh, which proved to be needed after Kram again created magic. She reached to start the seventh on an error, advancing to second on the poor throw. She then took third on a passed ball before scoring on Athena Pomele-Pen's groundout.

Roosevelt managed eight hits in the second game, but stranded eight runners on the base paths as well. Reynolds was charged with five runs in 6 1/3 innings, striking out a batter in the fifth. Kailey Hancock recorded the final two outs in the circle with a pair of flyouts to left field. Kram and Ella Dvoracek were both 2 for 3 in the second game to lead the Lakers offense.

The third-seeded Lakers will face the No. 6 seed Olivet Nazarene in the first round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday at 3 p.m. in Crown Point, Ind. If Roosevelt beats the Tigers, it would play No. 2 St. Francis at 5 p.m. on Thursday.