CRESTWOOD – Roosevelt again could not find the timely hit against Parkside while dropping a pair of games to the Rangers in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action Saturday at Ozinga Field.

The Lakers (7-20, 1-7 GLIAC) had the lead for most of the first game before giving up seven runs in the sixth inning of an eventual 9-7 loss. Roosevelt then stranded 10 runners on base in a 10-5 defeat against Parkside in the second game of the day.

PARKSIDE 9, ROOSEVELT 7
Parkside scored the opening run of the game in the first inning, but for the next five innings, the game belonged to Roosevelt. Sebastian Casillas led off the bottom of the first with a triple, one of three extra-base hits in the first five batters. James Berry lined a double down the right-field line to tie the game then Kekoa Ogawa singled, leaving runners on the corners. Luke Ulbert smashed a double down the left-field line, plating Berry and Ogawa for a 3-1 Lakers lead.

Quinn O'Bryan worked a walk to start the second then moved up to second on a passed ball. Fabian Cruz moved O'Bryan to third with a single to set up Casillas' deep fly to centerfield for an RBI sacrifice fly.

The Rangers scored a run in the third, but the Lakers responded in the fourth with two more runs. Jack Hoh hit a double that curved fair down the left-field line and Cruz brought him home with a single. Casillas singled and Ogawa followed with a run-scoring single to make it 6-2 Roosevelt.

Kaden Foran allowed just three hits in the first five innings on the mound for Roosevelt. He cruised through the fourth and fifth, retiring the Rangers in order, and looked to have started the sixth inning the same way. Foran struck out the first batter of the sixth inning, but a dropped third strike allowed the runner to reach base. A single and double cut the Roosevelt lead to 6-4 before the inning imploded.

Foran thought he had an inning-ending double play, but an error in the field allowed another run to score and kept the inning alive. The freshman recorded his fifth strikeout of the game to record the first out while still protecting a 6-5 lead. However, the Rangers scored four more runs, all unearned, in the inning to take a 9-6 lead with just six outs remaining.

The Lakers clawed back a run in the bottom of the sixth with a Casillas triple and RBI groundout from Berry. But Roosevelt went quietly in the seventh with two strikeouts and a foul pop fly to end the game.

PARKSIDE 10, ROOSEVELT 5
In the first two innings, Roosevelt put a runner on base with a single before they were caught stealing. Parkside scored twice in the second and three more times in the third before the Lakers' bats started to come alive.

Roosevelt scored twice in the bottom of the third after Cruz led off the frame with a single. Andrew Lucas smacked a double to put runners on second and third for Quinn O'Bryan, who plated one run with a single. Casillas drove in the other run with a fielder's choice, beating out a double play ball. He then stole second and third, the latter when Ogawa drew a walk, before the two were left on the basepaths.

The Rangers scored once in the fourth and once more in the sixth to take a 7-2 lead before Roosevelt struck again. Ogawa led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and hustled home on Ulbert's double into the gap in left centerfield. Kyle Jannenga hit a single when his dribbler stayed fair down the left-field line. Yet the Lakers hit consecutive groundballs to third base, allowing Parkside to step on the bag to nab the lead runner and spoil the threat.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Rangers gifted the Lakers a run on an Ogawa grounder to third base. In an attempt to turn the inning-ending double play, the third baseman threw to second base, but the second baseman sent the throw to first wide of the bag, allowing O'Bryan to score after his leadoff single.

Roosevelt had runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth inning, but could not find the hit to cut into the 10-4 deficit. The Lakers then did the job early in the ninth with Casillas reaching on a single, Berry being plunked then Ogawa delivering an RBI single. However, three straight outs ended the threat and the game.

UP NEXT: Roosevelt is scheduled to play Tuesday at 3 p.m. against Lewis in Romeoville before heading to Wayne State for a four-game set next weekend.