JOLIET, Ill. - The Roosevelt baseball team held a 5-4 edge heading into the bottom of the eighth inning against host St. Francis (Ill.) in the two teams' opening game of the 2019 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament, but the Fighting Saints scored four times in that half-inning and held off the Lakers' ninth-inning rally attempt to take an 8-6 decision at Joliet Route 66 Stadium on Friday.

The Lakers (13-27) play St. Ambrose in an elimination game on Saturday at 10 a.m., while St. Francis (29-20) takes on Olivet Nazarene.

Matt Garbacz gutted out six innings and allowed three earned runs, and Roosevelt rallied back from an early 3-0 deficit with two runs in the fourth and a go-ahead three-run sixth.

Leo Lunatto and Jake Hutchinson had RBI hits in the fourth inning, and after an error allowed Parker Coleman to score in the sixth and cut the Lakers' deficit down to 4-3, a wild pitch and a passed ball on a called third strike gave Roosevelt the tying and go-ahead runs.

The Saints threatened in the seventh, but reliever Jordan Mikolajewski induced an inning-ending double-play lineout.

USF put runners at the corners with one away in the fateful eighth to set up a game-tying sac fly. Back-to-back RBI singles put the Saints ahead by two, and hit batsman with the bases loaded drove in another run.

Matt Marrera led off the ninth with a walk and Matt Kozlak singled to bring the tying run to the plate. Coleman flied out and moved Marrera to third, and Zach Taylor hit a sac fly that drove home Marrera to make it a two-run game with two outs.

But Hunter Murawski struck out Jordan Coakley to end the game and put Roosevelt in win-or-go-home mode.