KENOSHA, Wis. – Roosevelt earned its first two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victories Saturday by sweeping a doubleheader against Parkside in Wisconsin.
The Lakers snapped a 14-game skid in the first game with a standout performance from Liam Neely on the mound in a 6-2 win. The teams needed more than nine innings to decide a winner in the second game, but Alejandro Munoz's RBI single in the 12th was the difference for Roosevelt (11-32, 2-17 GLIAC) in a 6-5 victory.
ROOSEVELT 6, PARKSIDE 5
The Rangers struck first in the second game of the day with a run in the second inning then two more in the third. Some bad luck kept the Lakers off the board until the sixth inning when the offense exploded for four runs to retake the lead.
Ian Bagaconza got the party started with a ground-rule double then Tyler Ruete didn't let the ball bounce at all on a home run to left field. CJ Chalk also smashed a ground-rule double then Jack Hoh reached on an error to put runners on the corners. Kyle Jannenga reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Chalk to tie the game then stole second to put himself in position to score on Cooper Ohlson's single.
Roosevelt tacked on a run in the seventh on a Parkside error after Quinn O'Bryan began the inning with a double into left field. Parkside would go on to tie the game with runs in the seventh and eighth innings, setting up the Kevin Schroer Show for the Lakers on the mound.
The junior right-hander found himself in some trouble in the ninth inning when he loaded the bases. However, he escaped with a line-drive double play and shut down the Rangers offense for the rest of the game.
Schroer earned the win with four shutout innings in relief allowing just the two hits in the ninth inning. He retired nine of the 10 batters he faced in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings with the only base runner coming due to a Roosevelt throwing error.
O'Bryan reached to start the 12th inning on a throwing error from Parkside then moved up on a sacrifice bunt from Bagaconza. Munoz then sent a line drive into the gap in left-center field, giving O'Bryan enough time to score from second. Four Lakers finished with two hits in the contest as Roosevelt finished with a 12-10 edge in hits. Â
ROOSEVELT 6, PARKSIDE 2
Neely was dominant on the mound for his five innings of work, and the Lakers gave him plenty of run support to start Saturday with a win. Neely struck out five and allowed just two runs on five hits before giving way to Jace Dominic for the lefty's second save of the season. Dominic gave up just one hit in his two innings on the mound to help the Lakers hold onto the victory.
Roosevelt let a golden chance at opening the scoring slip away in the second inning when Munoz led off the frame with a double. Chalk followed with a single to put runners on the corners with no outs, but three straight Lakers were retired to end the frame. It looked like the third was going to be a wash for the Lakers when the first two batters recorded outs.
However, Bagaconza was hit by a pitch and Ruete singled to bring the lineup back around to Munoz. The third baseman sent a single down the right-field line that scored Bagaconza and sent Ruete to third. Chalk then found space in the infield for a single to plate Ruete.
Ohlson sent a solo shot over the fence in the fourth inning to make it 3-0 Lakers. Roosevelt then added two more in the fifth when Chalk singled, Hoh drew a walk and Jannenga scored the pair with a triple into the gap in right-center field.
Neely recorded two quick outs in the fifth before a two-out single put runners on the corners. A misfired attempt to catch a runner stealing allowed the first Parkside run to score then the Rangers scored again in the frame before Neely ended the inning with a punchout.
Hoh kept the seventh inning alive with a two-out single then was replaced by Arthur Stamps on the base paths. Stamps stole second and forced a bad throw to take third base as well. Jannenga then reached when the Parkside first baseman dropped a throw from third, allowing Stamps to score Roosevelt's sixth run. Â
UP NEXT: The Lakers go for the series win Sunday at noon in the final game of the series.
