ROSEMONT, Ill. – Roosevelt supplied all the offense it would need before its pitchers even took the circle in a 14-5 six-inning win over Lewis on Sunday afternoon at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex.
As the visitors at the Lewis Invitational, the Lakers (5-3) quickly went to work attacking the Flyers pitching staff. Roosevelt scored 10 runs on seven hits in the top of the first inning, the most runs in an inning in nearly three years, chasing the Lewis starter after recording just one out.
The top of the lineup was seeing the ball well the entire game as Ella Dvoracek and Rebecca Urbaniak both went 4 for 5 with two runs and three RBI in the game. Dvoracek led off the game with an infield single and Urbaniak drove in her first run with a double into the gap in right centerfield. Kendall Pearson bunted Urbaniak over to third for Kennedi Robien to deliver an RBI single into right field.
Consecutive walks loaded the bases for Sophia Barofsky, and the freshman lashed a single into right field that brought two more runs across home plate. An error allowed Libby Kreykes to reach base and a run to score before Caitlin Williams concluded the first go-around the batting order with a walk.
Dvoracek legged out a single to the third baseman to drive in another run and Urbaniak blooped a single into right field to make it 7-0. Immediately after the Flyers changed pitchers, Pearson welcomed the new hurler by driving the first pitch she saw over the centerfielder's head for a bases-clearing triple.
Lewis scored once off Riley Czarnecki in the first inning after the sophomore righty allowed a leadoff bunt single to score while recording outs. She was largely untouched again until the fourth inning when a parade of walks allowed two runs to score before Kailey Hancock took over in the circle. Hancock recorded two quick outs to escape the jam, but the Flyers cut the deficit to 10-4.
Roosevelt loaded the bases in the top of the fifth with no outs, poised to restore the eight-run lead it needed for a run-rule victory. However, the Lakers were unable to add to their total extending the game into a sixth inning. The game would not need to go past the sixth as the Lakers offense woke up and delivered four runs in the frame.
Williams worked a four-pitch walk with the bases loaded to bring home the first run, and Dvoracek immediately followed with two-run single up the middle. Urbaniak sent the ball back up the gut in her next at-bat to bring home Williams from second base and make it a 10-run game again.
Hancock nearly kept her shutout streak intact after two quick flyouts in the bottom of the sixth. However, she allowed her first run in 18.1 innings of work on a double before inducing a popup to third base to end the game. The junior needed just 32 pitches to get eight outs and face 11 batters and earn her first save of the season.
UP NEXT: The Lakers head to the state capital on Wednesday for another doubleheader against UIS before heading off to Florida for spring break the following week.
