Bensenville, Ill. - Robert Morris got the best of the Roosevelt baseball team on Saturday afternoon, opening the three-game series between the two city rivals with a doubleheader sweep of the Lakers at Geils Field. The Eagles took the opener 8-2 and then shutout Roosevelt in the nightcap, 10-0.
The Lakers have now dropped three-straight decisions and sit at 8-24 overall and 5-17 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Robert Morris, leaders of the CCAC North Division at 18-4, is now 32-15 this season.
A six-run fourth inning for the Eagles proved to be the difference in game one as Robert Morris topped Roosevelt, 8-2.
Already owning a 2-0 lead in the fourth, a pair of errors by the Lakers opened the door for the Eagles big inning. Tyler Thompson made Roosevelt pay for its miscues with a two-run single off of starter Nick Szynal, while Marty Coyle and Jack Murphy also drove in runs for Robert Morris in the rally.
The Lakers tried to come back with single runs in the fifth and seventh inning. Roosevelt had the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh, but managed just a single tally as Patrick Murray struck out the side to end the comeback attempt.
Szynal was the losing pitcher. His record dropped to `1-7 this year. Murray was the winning pitcher, moving to 7-2 after allowing just four hits in a complete game effort.
Game two was all Robert Morris as they collected a 10-0 victory in six innings. Starter Bryan Johnson paced the Eagles as he limited Roosevelt to just three hits and fanned five in 5.1 innings.
Junior Dave Plocharczyk had two of the Lakers' three hits on the day.
The contest was tight through the first four innings with Robert Morris a slim 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. The Eagles would strike for four runs in that inning, though, and then Tim Ryan ended the contest in the sixth with a three-run double.
Freshman Brett Hoffman was the losing pitcher for the Lakers and is now 0-6 this season. He worked 4.2 innings allowing seven runs on eight hits. Johnson got the win and is now 7-2 this season.
The Lakers and Eagles will conclude their series on Easter Sunday at 9:15 a.m. in Bensenville, Ill.
