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Box Score 2 CRESTWOOD, Ill. – Roosevelt rode its stellar pitching and defense to a critical Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference sweep of Olivet Nazarene on Friday at Ozinga Field in Crestwood.
The Lakers (16-7, 5-2 CCAC) won the opening game of the doubleheader, 7-2, behind an eighth-inning offensive outburst. However, there was no such luck with the bats in the second game as Roosevelt managed just three hits across 14 innings in a nail-biting 2-1 win over the Tigers. Olivet Nazarene left 15 runners on the base in the defeat in the second game, failing to capitalize on their numerous chances to win the game in extra innings.
Olivet Nazarene was the home team for the second game of the doubleheader as the teams changed the series schedule to account for upcoming inclement weather. That put a lot of pressure on starter Noah Mathias and reliever Connor Collins, who faced the Tigers with a chance at a walk-off defeat in every inning from the seventh onwards. The pair managed to escape trouble often in the latter innings, giving Roosevelt's struggling offense more chances to heat up.
Mathias was really cruising in the game until the sixth inning when he airmailed his pickoff attempt after a leadoff walk and allowed the runner to advance to third. The Tigers tied the game two batters later on a single, but it was a sign of the trouble brewing for the Lakers. Olivet Nazarene had back-to-back singles with two outs in the eighth inning before Mathias shut the door. In the ninth, Mathias hit the first batter he faced and walked the second, but managed to escape unscathed with a flyout to right field with the bases loaded.
Collins came on to replace Mathias for the 10th and immediately surrendered a double down the right field line. After an intentional walk and failed sacrifice bunt, the Tigers did manage to put runners on the corners with two outs before Collins induced a groundout to end the inning. Collins struck out the side in the 11th, but was immediately back in trouble when the first two runners reached in the 12th. This time, Collins' pitch with the bases loaded was rocketed right at Jesus Gomez, who snared the line drive then calmly flipped to Sherman Martin for the inning-ending double play.
The 13th inning was the scariest moment for the Lakers when Collins once again allowed the first two runners to reach. Roosevelt couldn't nab the lead runner on the sacrifice bunt, leaving second and third with just one out. But Collins pumped across his fourth and fifth strikeouts of the game to end the threat.
That led to a wild 14th inning that began with Gomez getting hit by a pitch then advancing to second on a Jojo Mack sacrifice bunt. Sean Blanchard moved the runner another 90 feet with a groundout before Hunter Darst provided more heroics with a line drive up the middle for Roosevelt's third hit of the game. Mack's RBI single in the third inning to score Jack Toenjes was the Lakers' first hit, and it remained their only hit in the game until the 10th inning when Luca Paolucci reached on an infield single that kicked off third base and handcuffed Olivet Nazarene's third baseman.
The Lakers were set down in order in five of six innings before Gomez was hit by a pitch to lead off the 14th frame. Even Paolucci's single didn't save the Lakers from a 1-2-3 inning, per se, as he was thrown out stealing for the final out of the frame. Roosevelt did work two walks in the game, but it rarely threatened the Olivet Nazarene duo that combined for 12 strikeouts in the game.
Roosevelt's offense was thankfully much better in the first game, scoring seven runs on 11 hits in the win over the Tigers. After Olivet Nazarene scored in the top of the first, the Lakers answered in the bottom half of the inning with Sherman Martin's double into the gap in right center field. Daniel Gutierrez wheeled around to score on the play while Blanchard was held at third after both walked earlier in the frame.
The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning while the Lakers sprinkled base runners and hits throughout the lineup but couldn't string together runs. That all changed in the eighth inning when the hits began to multiply quickly. Blanchard led off with a single before Darst and Martin loaded the bases with walks. Jaylen Heard cracked a single into left field to tie the game and two batters later Toenjes drove in a run on an RBI infield single with a dribbler up the third-base line.
Ben Compton made the second out count with a deep fly to left that scored a run, preceding three straight run-scoring singles from Mack, Gutierrez and Blanchard. A misfired throw to second in hopes of catching a runner stealing brought the Lakers to second and third with two outs, but Darst's grounder was snagged by the shortstop and the throw barely beat him to the bag at first base.
The explosion of runs prevented Kerry Zeese from being stuck with a hard-luck loss after the senior righty tossed eight innings and allowed just two runs while striking out eight. Zeese didn't have to dance out of trouble much, but he did strike out a batter with a runner on third in the fourth inning then fanned two more in the fifth with a runner on second base. In the sixth, Zeese executed a pickoff well, but a missed tag at second base allowed both runners to safely advance with two outs before Zeese induced a pop fly to end the inning.
Roosevelt and Olivet Nazarene will finish their series Sunday at 3 p.m. back at Ozinga Field with a nine-inning contest. The Tigers will once again be designated as the home team in that game.
