CRESTWOOD – Roosevelt made three first-inning runs hold up to complete a sweep of a doubleheader Friday at Ozinga Field against Olivet Nazarene.

The start of the doubleheader was delayed by 90 minutes due to rain, but the moisture did little to cool down the Lakers (13-30), who have now won four straight and six of their last seven games. Roosevelt walked off the first game of the day with a 6-5 win on James Berry's RBI sacrifice fly in the seventh. The Lakers then picked up some crucial defensive plays to beat the Tigers 3-0 in the nightcap.

Prior to the rain beginning to fall in Crestwood, the Lakers honored their 16 seniors with their annual Senior Day ceremony. Although Roosevelt has four more home games scheduled, Friday's contests are the final ones to be played at Ozinga Field this season.

ROOSEVELT 6, OLIVET NAZARENE 5
Both teams had to ride the wild swings of momentum that came from the opener as the scoring was limited, but the tension was not. Berry wasted no time extending his hitting streak with a leadoff single in the first inning, and eventually moved up to third base before being left on the basepaths.

Olivet Nazarene struck first for four runs in the second inning, but that was really the only damage the Tigers were able to inflict on Omar Abuelhija. The senior righty set down the Tigers in order in the first and fourth innings and retired three straight batters after a leadoff walk in the third.

Roosevelt responded to the onslaught in the fourth inning with a leadoff infield single from Jack Hoh. Two quick outs nearly ended the rally, but Berry singled up the middle again and Kekoa Ogawa drove in a run with a single of his own. Luke Ulbert loaded the bases with an infield single then Jack Kieffer picked up an RBI by drawing a walk. Sebastian Casillas tied the game with a two-run single that put runners at the corners.

The Tigers led off the fifth with a double then reached on an error, but Abuelhija induced a pair of flyballs to centerfield. Olivet Nazarene then ran itself out of the inning with a double-steal attempt going awry, allowing the runner on first base to be tagged out before the runner on third could score.

In the sixth inning, Olivet Nazarene scored on a squeeze bunt, but that just set the stage for a triumphant final at-bat for Roosevelt. Casillas began the bottom of the seventh with a ground-rule double to right field and Jannenga followed by drawing a walk. Hoh laid down the sacrifice bunt to move the runners over, and the Tigers elected to load the bases by intentionally walking pinch hitter William Zalabak.

The move came back to haunt the Tigers as they plunked Quinn O'Bryan with the next pitch to tie the game. Berry then wasted no time winning the game for the Lakers, driving the second pitch he saw deep enough into left field to allow Jannenga to score the winning run from third.

ROOSEVELT 3, OLIVET NAZARENE 0
Roosevelt had just four hits in the game, but two of them came in the first inning when the Lakers did all their damage. Ogawa singled to the shortstop and Ulbert walked before a wild pitch allowed both to advance 90 feet. Kieffer also drew a walk, but ball four was so far outside that Ogawa was able to score on the wild pitch while Ulbert moved to
third. Jannenga then delivered a two-run single after a sacrifice bunt to make it 3-0 Lakers.

The lead was plenty for Jake Glickman, who picked up 19 of the 21 outs on the mound for Roosevelt. The senior struck out four and scattered nine hits across 6.1 innings of work, finding the right pitches to escape the trouble he faced in later innings. Glickman easily worked around singles in the first and third innings as Hoh was able to pick off an Olivet Nazarene runner at first base to end an inning from his spot at catcher.

Olivet Nazarene's first real threat was in the fourth inning, but Glickman was able to strand a pair with a strikeout to end the frame. In the sixth, three straight one-out singles loaded the bases against Glickman with two of them being infield hits. The Tigers couldn't find a third infield hit, instead grounding into the inning-ending double play.

In the seventh, Glickman thought he had his fifth strikeout, but the umpire ruled Hoh interfered with the hitter, allowing him to take first. A single ended Glickman's evening, but Kevin Schroer picked up two quick outs for his fourth save of the season to preserve the victory.

Berry extended his hitting streak to 31 games with a single in the second inning. He was 1 for 3 in the second game Friday after going 2 for 4 with the game-winning RBI in the first game of the day.

UP NEXT: The Lakers and Tigers will play a doubleheader Saturday in Bourbonnais with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.