Box Score / Box Score (PDF)

SAUGET, Ill. – Last year the Flyers qualified for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Baseball Tournament for the first time since 2002. On Friday night Lewis took it one step further by advancing to day two of the 2011 Tournament thanks to a 6-1 victory over Rockhurst.

Lewis lost to Quincy to open the day in the double elimination tournament. Rockhurst fell to Southern Indiana and after the loss to Lewis, Rockhurst's 2011 season is over.

Lewis' first serious rally of the game came in the third when Lewis put runners on first and second with one out. However a pop out and a strikeout ended the threat.

As junior starting pitcher Pat Lahey (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) (Downers Grove, Ill./) put up zeros, the Flyers struggled to get on the board until the seventh when Lewis scored four runs. Senior Mike Vucsko (Evergreen Park, Ill./Marist) (Evergreen Park, Ill./Marist) singled through the right side with one out to score sophomore Brian Norwood (Medinah, Ill./Lake Park) (Medinah, Ill./Lake Park) for Lewis' first run. From there the doors opened. Senior Richard Forkin (Orland Park, Ill./Lockport) (Orland Park, Ill./Lockport) hit a sacrifice fly to right field, plating senior Vince Campagna (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett). Vucsko then scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. Junior Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep/Triton) went to third on the wild one and then scored on a two-out RBI by single by Andrew Brauer (Bolingbrook, Ill./Montini) (Bolingbrook, Ill./Montini/College of DuPage).

“I think everybody exhaled after Mike got that hit,” head coach Tim McDonough said. “When your nine hole hitter comes through in an RBI situation it is a pick me up for the entire team.”

Lewis added two more in the eighth on a two RBI double by senior Miguel Amesquita (Hometown, Ill./Brother Rice) (Hometown, Ill./Brother Rice/Triton).

Lahey was phenomenal for the Flyers. He earned the win to improve his record to 8-3. He gave up just the one run on six hits in 7.0 innings. He finished with a flurry, earning strikeouts of the final two batters he faced, the first coming against All-GLVC First Team performer Ryan Porter. Lahey didn't walk a batter.

“Pat set the tone for us and really executed his pitches," McDonough said. “We realized pretty early that Pat had his good stuff and it wouldn't take too much offense to get the win.”

Rockhurst falls to 23-26. Lewis improves to 24-17.

All nine Lewis starters recorded hits.

Lewis will play on Friday at 3:30 p.m. against the loser of the Quincy-Southern Indiana game.