March 4, 2009

Box Score

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Lewis used a dominating pitching performance by junior Joe Scumaci (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence/Triton) in game one and an offensive assault in game two to sweep a doubleheader from Gannon University 2-0 and 12-6 on Wednesday afternoon.

Scumaci threw a complete game seven inning shutout in the opener to earn his first victory as a Flyer. He allowed just two hits and two walks, striking out nine along the way.

Both Lewis runs came in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Mike Vucsko (Evergreen Park, Ill./Marist) led off the game with a single. Freshman Cameron Anello (Homer Glen, Ill./Brother Rice) followed with a double to put runners at second and third. Senior Chris McCall (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest/College of DuPage) doubled to score both Vucsko and Anello and make it a 2-0 game. It would stay that way the rest of the game thanks to Scumaci's masterful performance.

"Joe was in command of his stuff all day," head coach Tim McDonough said. "It's near the end of the trip and the guys are a bit tired so his complete game was huge."

In the only similarity to the opening game, the Flyers also got on the board first by scoring in the first inning.

Freshman Zach Stetson (Kankakee, Ill./Herscher) tripled in Anello and senior Ryan Reynolds (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) with two outs to give Lewis a quick two-run advantage.

Gannon scored three in the bottom of the second inning to take their first lead of the day, but the Flyers tallied four in the third to retake the lead.

Reynolds singled in Anello for the first Flyers' run of the inning. Stetson stepped up with McCall and Reynolds on base and proceeded to hit another triple for his fourth RBI of the game. Freshman Michael Wido (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) singled to score Stetson.

Gannon responded with two in the fifth to knot it at six. However Lewis would score the next six runs and take the contest.

The Flyers notched three runs in the sixth. Junior Ryan Koerner (LeRoy, Ill./LeRoy) singled in Wido and junior Ryan McManaman (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) who had back-to-back singles and were sacrificed over by junior Michael Fedoruk (Norridge, Ill./Notre Dame). Koerner stole second and was knocked in by Anello.

In the seventh Fedoruk singled in Stetson, and then Koerner doubled Wido and Fedoruk home.

Junior Ted Bartnik (Diamond, Ill./Coal City/Illinois Valley CC) started and threw 4.1 innings, allowing six runs on six hits and three walks. Freshman Drew Hicks (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) finished the fifth and earned his first collegiate victory.

Freshman Pat Lahey (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) pitched a scoreless sixth and senior Chris Brigham (Bolingbrook, Ill./Romeoville) shutout Gannon in the seventh.

"Winning two games is great, but being able to win two different ways is a good sign," McDonough said. "Additionally we have three-or-four freshmen on the field learning on the fly but also finding success."

Gannon falls to 2-6. Lewis improves to 5-3. The Flyers play Missouri-St. Louis on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.