GLVC Tournament Game Notes

Lewis baseball travels to the 2012 Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament this week. The event starts Thursday, May 10 and ends Sunday, May 13. The tournament is being held in Evansville, Ind. with USI Field on the campus of Southern Indiana and Bosse Field hosting games. As the No. 8 seed, first up for the Flyers is No. 1 seed Indianapolis on Thursday (May 10) at 2:30 p.m. The game will be played at Bosse Field. Visit the Lewis baseball twitter feed @LewisBaseball during the tournament for updates.

OVERALL WINS: Lewis enters the GLVC Tournament with 32 wins. The last time the Flyers reached 30 wins was 2000 when Lewis put together a 34-26 record.

GLVC WINS: Lewis' 21 GLVC wins this year match the most for a single season in program history. The Flyers had 21 in 1996 thanks to a 21-7 record.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS: Lewis head coach Tim McDonough earned his 100th career head coaching victory on March 24 in game one against Missouri S&T. McDonough enters the GLVC Tournament with a career 121-127 record.

IN THE TOURNAMENT: Tim McDonough is 1-4 all-time in the GLVC Tournament. Lewis fell to Southern Indiana and Indianapolis in 2010. Last year, Lewis lost to Quincy, then defeated Rockhurst in the evening game, before falling to Southern Indiana the next day.

PAT MISSES BATS: Pat Lahey (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) started and earned the win in Lewis' 6-1 decision over Rockhurst in the GLVC Tournament last year. Lahey threw seven innings of six-hit, one run ball to pick up the victory. This year, Lahey has the best single-season ERA of his career (2.53) and owns a 5-4 record.

BETTER EARN IT: In all games, Lewis has three pitchers in the top four in the GLVC in fewest walks. Pat Lahey (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) has walked just three batters this year, best in the nation and the GLVC. Matt Frahm (McLean, Ill./Olympia) ranks third in the conference with just eight walks and Michael Schroeder (Crown Point, Ind./North Newton) ranks fourth with just nine walks. As a team, Lewis has walked just 99 batters in 2012, the lowest total in the conference.

WE PLAY THE HITS: In conference games, Lewis led the GLVC in home runs (26) and total bases (485).

LONG GONE: 11 different Flyers have hit a home run this year.

GETTING IT STARTED: In conference games, senior leadoff man Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) led the GLVC in hits (53).

ALBANO POWER: In all games, Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) led the GLVC in home runs (11), finished second in slugging (.687) and second in total bases (112).

ALBANO HONORED: Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs)'s play was rewarded this year on April 23 with the D2BaseballNews.com National Player of the Week and GLVC Player of the Week honor.

CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL: The duo of Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) (11) and Michael Schroeder (Crown Point, Ind./North Newton) (7) have combined for 18 home runs this year. That total is more home runs than 10 entire GLVC teams hit in 2012. Albano's 11 home runs on his own are more than five teams in the GLVC. Lewis hit a GLVC-high five home runs in the season opener against Findlay on March 4.

RUNNING AND RUNNING: Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) has 34 stolen bases in 2012. Last year he stole 31 bags. Bolling had a straight steal of home in Lewis' 4-3 game one victory over Missouri S&T on March 24.

OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS: Only Lewis, Northern Kentucky, Rockhurst and Drury have made the GLVC Tournament each of the last three years.

AGAINST GLVC TOURNAMENT TEAMS: Lewis' record this season against the field: Indianapolis (1-3), Northern Kentucky (2-2), Missouri S&T (1-1), Rockhurst (1-1), Quincy (0-0), Drury (1-1) and Missouri-St. Louis (0-0).

TWO WAY PLAY: Junior Michael Schroeder (Crown Point, Ind./North Newton) is Lewis' starting first baseman and in the weekend pitching rotation. As a first baseman, he has hit .352 with 36 RBI and seven home runs. On the mound he is tied for the team lead in wins thanks to a 6-2 record. He has a 3.18 ERA in 51.0 innings with 28 strikeouts and nine walks.

WALK OFF A WINNER: Lewis has three walk-off victories in 2012.
     The first came on March 31 against Saint Joseph's when Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) hit a home run to left center field to give Lewis a 4-3 win in the eighth inning of the seven-inning contest.
     Lewis won 15-14 over Saint Xavier on April 12. The Flyers scored five runs in the ninth with a single by Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) scoring Michael Wido (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) for the game-winning run.
     On April 24 Drew Buddle (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) laced a double to right center field to score Zach Stetson (Kankakee, Ill./Herscher) for a 7-6 victory over St. Francis (Ill.).
     Lewis had a walk-off victory of a different sort on April 1 against Saint Joseph's. With one out in the seventh and the tying runner on third, Puma batter Jack Teah lifted a fly ball to right field. Derek Thomas (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy), who just entered the game as a defensive replacement, caught the ball and threw out Jake Roberts at home trying to tag up and score the tying run. The play ensured an 8-7 win for Lewis.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: Lewis has the most GLVC baseball championships (six) in conference history. Lewis' has GLVC titles in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992 and 1994.

WHERE DO WE RANK?: Lewis ranks No. 6 in the latest NCAA Midwest Region Poll. The top six teams qualify for the tournament. However, the champions of the GLVC and GLIAC Tournaments receive automatic berths. The last season Lewis earned an NCAA bid was 1996.

LAST NAMES PLEASE: The Lewis roster has five Flyers named Mike/Michael and three Flyers named Kyle. In the game two against Indianapolis on April 7, two thirds of Lewis' starting lineup was named Mike or Kyle as Kyle Huber (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech), Kyle Thomas (Homer Glen, Ill./Providence Catholic), Kyle Kapka (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect), Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep), Michael Wido (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) and Mike Barajas (Chicago, Ill./Nazareth) all started. Michael Schroeder (Crown Point, Ind./North Newton) threw an inning of relief too.

WHEN LEADING...: When leading after six innings this season the Flyers are 27-1.

THERE'S NO CRYING IN THE GLVC: Bosse Field in Evansville, Ind., the site of the GLVC Tournament, was a filming location for the movie A League of Their Own.