April 14, 2004

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE - Senior right-hander Matt Tanton registered his team-high fifth victory of the season Wednesday, a 9-5 decision over Saint Joseph's in game one of a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader.

In game two, Saint Joseph's scored four runs in the ninth inning and earned a split with a 7-4 triumph.

Tanton (5-2) went the 7-inning distance and allowed 10 hits and three walks while striking out three. He pitched out of a bases-loaded jam without allowing a run in the fourth, an inning that also featured the Flyer defense gunning down a runner at the plate.

Saint Joseph's took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but Lewis went ahead for good by plating three runs in the bottom of the inning. Andy Radak and Brian Davis reached on errors and scored on Ahren Baranski (Channahon, Ill./Minooka)'s double, and Baranski scored on Victor Naut (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick)'s 2-out single.

The Flyers added a run in the fourth when Darryl Jenkins scored on a balk following a leadoff single. The Pumas made it 4-3 in the sixth, only to see Lewis score five times in the bottom of the inning to secure the victory.

Jenkins and Brandon Niewinski reached on errors to lead off the inning. Radak advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt and reached first when Saint Joseph's unsuccessfully tried to force Jenkins at third.

Davis' double drove in two runs, and Radak was thrown out at the plate on the play. With two outs, Andy Sweet (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere)'s single drove in Davis, and Chris Carbonaro hit a 2-run home run, his third of the season, off the top of the right-field wall.

Sweet was 3-for-4, while Davis and Carbonaro were 2-for-3.

In the nightcap, the Flyers (13-25, 7-16 GLVC) twice rallied from deficits to tie the score.

With Saint Joseph's (16-20, 10-12 GLVC) leading 2-0, Lewis scored twice in the sixth on consecutive solo homers by Jenkins, his first, and Sweet, his third. The Pumas scored an unearned run in the seventh, but Mike Smith delivered a 2-out RBI single in the eighth to give the Flyers a 3-3 tie heading into the ninth.

Unfortunately, SJC's Sean McBride belted a grand-slam homer over the right-field wall in the final frame, and Puma reliever Bob Bosserdet (3-3), who relieved starter Mike Stawski in the eighth, held on for the win.

Lewis senior right-hander Matt Petrusek (4-6) went the distance and yielded 11 hits and four walks while fanning five.

The Flyers play a non-conference game at Valparaiso Thursday, then host Northern Kentucky in a pair of GLVC doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday. Game time both days is noon.