May 2, 2010

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Game 1 Box Score in PDF Format
Game 2 Box Score in PDF Format

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Lewis baseball has earned their first trip to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament since 2002, despite being swept in a doubleheader at Brennan Field on Sunday by St. Joseph's. The Pumas won game one 6-1 and took game two 7-5 in 14 innings.

The Flyers earned a berth in the GLVC Tournament thanks to a pair of losses by Quincy. Lewis will be the No. 8 seed and play No. 1 seed Southern Indiana on Thursday. First pitch will be 3:30 p.m. at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill.

"I'm happy for the seniors who will get to experience a GLVC Tournament," head coach Tim McDonough said. "I told the guys the season starts over, everyone is 0-0 and we have as good as a chance as anyone."

In game one, St. Joseph's tallied one in the first thanks to a two-out rally. However sophomore Pat Lahey (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) got out of a second and third jam in the frame by striking out Matt Foltz. St. Joseph's added a run with another two-out RBI in the third on a double by Sean Estand to score Wade Finke.

Lewis threatened in the fourth when a throwing error put junior Miguel Amesquita (Hometown, Ill./Brother Rice/Triton) on second and senior Scott Householder (Berwyn, Ill./St. Josephs/Triton) on third. However junior Tyler Newsome (Palos Heights, Ill./Marist/South Suburban CC) lined out to third to end the inning. It appeared Lewis had a run on the play before when the umpires initially sent Householder home on the wild throw which went out of play. But after a conference he was sent back to third.

St. Joseph's added to their lead with three runs in the fifth.

Lewis scored their only run of the game on a two-out RBI single by freshman Brian Norwood (Medinah, Ill./Lake Park) in the sixth.

St. Joseph's scored a run in the seventh to make the final 6-1.

Lahey took the loss to drop his record to 3-6. He allowed nine hits and five runs (four earned) in 4.2 innings. Steve Styck went the distance for St. Joseph's, allowing one run to move his record to 4-3.

In game two, St. Joseph's scored an unearned run in the first. The Flyers plated one to tie the game up in the bottom of the first on an RBI double by Householder to score junior Richard Forkin (Orland Park, Ill./Lockport).

Senior Michael Beier (Lowell, Ind./Lowell/IU Northwest) made a diving catch for the first out in the top of the second. His catch helped keep the Pumas off the board in the inning.

Lewis took a 2-1 lead in the second on freshman Ian O'Connor (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg)'s (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) first career home run. The Flyers added two more in the third. Norwood's infield hit scored Forkin. It looked like Norwood was going to be picked off first on the following play but Amesquita, who was on third, broke for home and scored.

Lewis took a 4-1 lead into the top of the fourth when St. Joseph's scored a pair of two-out runs to make it 4-3.

Junior Matt Zicher (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey/Triton), who entered the game in the fifth for the starter Newsome, left with two outs in the seventh and runners on first and second for senior Ted Bartnik (Diamond, Ill./Coal City/Illinois Valley CC). Bartnik proceeded to strike out the first batter he saw on four pitches.

St. Joseph's tied it at four in the eighth. The leadoff batter Eric Mason reached base on an error by O'Connor at second. Mason would score on a sacrifice fly by Joe Dispensa. The Pumas would leave two runners on in the inning. It would be the last time St. Joseph's threatened against Bartnik, as he allowed just a walk in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings.

Bartnik's final line was 5.1 innings, one hit, one run (unearned) and five strikeouts.

Junior Eric Esposito (Lemont, Ill./Lemont/Triton) entered in the 13th and allowed two hits, but kept Saint Joseph's off the board in the frame.

Lewis had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 13th with Beier at bat. The Flyers went for broke and attempted a suicide squeeze. However the pitch was far outside and Beier couldn't get the bunt down. Lewis' runner at third was tagged out. Beier followed with a fly ball to right field to end the inning.

It looked like Esposito was going to get out of the 14th without a run scoring but a two-out error by Forkin opened up the door for three runs to score in the frame.

Lewis plated one in the bottom half of the 14th to make the final 7-5. Ed Schlueter (2-2) picked up the win for St. Joseph's, pitching the final 4.2 innings. Esposito took the loss (0-1) for the Flyers.

"Overall I thought we pitched well in game two," McDonough said. "We just can't make the defensive mistakes we did."

Householder finished the game 3-for-6 with a run scored and an RBI.

St. Joseph's improves to 30-20 (16-12 GLVC). Lewis finishes the regular season 27-28 (15-16 GLVC).