ELMHURST, Ill. – Brady Kostecki threw another complete-game gem and AJ Neufeld drove in six runs to lift the Roosevelt baseball team to a 14-0 win over Robert Morris in the finale of the two teams' CCAC-opening doubleheader at the Plunkett Athletic Complex on Saturday.
The decisive win in the nightcap was a grand bounce-back effort following a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the Eagles due to a tiebreaking sixth-inning homer in the seven-inning twinbill opener.
Roosevelt improved to 2-6 on the year with a 1-1 mark in the CCAC, while Robert Morris is now 6-5 and 1-1 in conference play.
In game one, John Swisher turned in a fine effort on the mound, and Roosevelt rallied for a tying run in the top of the sixth on Neufeld's sac fly.
But RMU's Jack Wietlispach hit a one-out homer in the bottom of that frame to break the 1-1 deadlock, and Roosevelt's Matt Esquivel was thrown out at the plate with the tying run in the top of the seventh to end the game.
Game two was much different from the get-go. Neufeld hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to cap a three-run frame, and the Lakers' bats never quieted with a 12-hit showing that produced 14 runs.
The Lakers broke the game open with an eight-run seventh. Neufeld accounted for the most damage with a bases-loaded triple.
That offensive onslaught proved insurmountable with the Lakers' dominating mound presence in Kostecki, who allowed just two infield hits and struck out seven for his second straight complete-game masterpiece and his first collegiate shutout.
"It was big to bounce back like that," said Roosevelt head coach Steve Marchi, who took the blame for one of the runs allowed in the tough loss in the opener. "It was nice to see the guys come out and perform the way they did. What can you say about Brady? His second straight performance that was beyond what you'd expect from a freshman. A big day by AJ as well.
"Especially against a team like this, this is how you have to perform if you want to get to the postseason," Marchi said. "Now we have a chance to win the weekend."
The two teams resume their series at the Plunkett Athletic Complex in Elmhurst on Sunday with a doubleheader at noon.
Brady Kostecki pitched a two-hit complete-game shutout against RMU.
