CRESTWOOD, Ill. – Roosevelt and St. Francis (Ill.) engaged in 18 and a half innings of Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball at Standard Bank Stadium on Sunday, with the result being a doubleheader split between the Lakers and the Fighting Saints.
Roosevelt (18-19, 14-8 CCAC) broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the 12th inning on Leo Lunatto's RBI single, and run-scoring hits off the bats of Jonah Meidl-Zahorodny and Matt Donahue added insurance before a game-ending catch by centerfielder Andrew Bohlmann on the warning track and just in front of the right-centerfield fence allowed the Lakers to outlast the Fighting Saints (16-23, 10-9 CCAC), 7-4, in the opener.
St. Francis scored seven times in the first two innings of the nightcap to overcome Roosevelt's four-run first and defeat the Lakers, 10-4, to salvage the split.
Meidl-Zahorodny, Matt Marrera and Tyler Ward had three-hit games at the dish in the opener. Marrera added two more hits in the finale before leaving due to injury.
Game one starter Matt Dunne allowed three earned runs in nine innings for a no-decision, and Nick Simak threw three scoreless innings in relief to get the win.
The Lakers, who were the guests for this twinbill, opened the day with a four-run first before St. Francis tallied a one run in the bottom of the frame.
Aided by an error, the Fighting Saints scored three runs in the sixth to knot the game.
The contest remained deadlocked for five innings until Ward led off the 12th with a walk and Jordan Coakley reached after getting hit by a pitch to set up Lunatto's go-ahead hit.
Simak got the first two batters out before the Fighting Saints loaded the bases for Travis Schoonover, who lifted a deep fly ball to right center that appeared to have a chance of leaving the yard and giving USF the walk-off win until Bohlmann was able to corral it in front of the fence.
Roosevelt opened the second game by replicating its first-inning output in the first game with four runs. Lunatto delivered another RBI single, and Zach Taylor brought in two by legging out a triple. Taylor scored moments later on Matt Donahue's sacrifice fly.
St. Francis responded in the bottom half of the first with four runs to knot the contest. A Roosevelt error during the inning allowed three of the runs to score under an unearned designation.
The Fighting Saints took their first lead of the day in the second inning on a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-4 game, and a subsequent double brought in two more runs. Multi-run insurance was added in the sixth by the Saints with a three-spot.
The Lakers could not get their offense in gear after the first against starter Michael Quiram, who kept the Green and White off the scoreboard for the finale's final six innings.
Roosevelt and St. Francis finish their three-game set on Monday with the rubber match in Crestwood at 3 p.m. The Lakers return to their status as the home team at Standard Bank Stadium.
