Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  \ Game 1 Box Score (pdf) | Game 2 Box Score (pdf)

Romeoville, Ill. – The Lewis University baseball team opened the final weekend of the regular season with a sweep of Bellarmine, winning 7-4 and 9-8 on Saturday (May 3) at Brennan Field.
 
The Flyers improve to 25-22 on the year and 17-16 in Great Lakes Valley Conference action, while the Knights fall to 18-30 for the season and 9-25 in league play.
 
"It's the end of the year and we took on a tough Bellarmine team today," Lewis head baseball coach Tim McDonough said. "Our pitchers kept them off-balance and we got some big hits throughout the day.
 
"I am really happy with the sweep and I hope we can come out and get one or two more wins tomorrow."
 
In the first game, Bellarmine got an early two-run lead on the Flyers in the first inning as Austin Crutcher hit a two-run home run to left field.
 
The Flyers cut their lead in half in the bottom of the inning on a solo blast by senior Jake Murray (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North). Lewis then tied the game at 2-all in the second when junior Mike Barajas (Chicago, Ill./Nazareth) singled in sophomore Joe Sparacio (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) after he legged out a double to right center.
 
Lewis took the lead in the fourth inning. Sophomore Austin Mastela (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport), after hitting a single, stealing second and advancing on Sparacio's single, scored on a double-play groundout by senior Kyle Kapka (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect).

Bellarmine's Cructcher hit a solo shot in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 3-all but the Flyers quickly retook the lead in the bottom of the frame when Kapka doubled in Mastela.
 
In the eighth inning, the Flyers scored three runs on four hits to jump out to a 7-3 advantage. Sparacio singled in senior Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs), who doubled then moved to third on a balk. Kapka hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Mastela after he was hit by a pitch to reach base, and moved up on a wild pitch and Sparacio's hit. Barajas hit a single to score Sparacio for the third Flyer run of the inning.
 
The Knights added a single run in the top of the ninth on two hits and a lead-off walk.
 
Lewis starter Eann Cox (Erie, Ill./Erie) threw his fourth complete game of the year to get the win. Cox (6-4) gave up four runs on five hits, walked four and struck out two.
 
Bellarmine hurler Curtis McCombs threw 7.2 innings in the loss. McCombs (4-4) gave up all seven runs on 13 hits and struck out five.
 
In the nightcap, the Flyers scored two runs on three doubles in the second inning. Albano, Sparacio and Barajas all collected doubles off of Bellarmine's starter Evan McNair.
 
Lewis knocked McNair out of the game with two outs in the third after he gave up a three-run home run to Albano, scoring senior Drew Buddle (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) and Murray. Senior Kyle Thomas (Homer Glen, Ill./Providence Catholic) hit a RBI-double to right center to score Mastela.
 
The Flyers posted three runs on four hits off of Bellarmine reliever John Hakemoller in the fourth inning, taking a 9-1 lead. Buddle hit a single up the middle of the infield to score senior Alex Slaby (Davenport, Iowa/Davenport West) after he reached on a fielder's choice and stole second base. Albano doubled to push Buddle to third before Mastela hit a two-run double down the left field line.
 
Bellarmine tacked on two runs on three hits in the top of the fifth, including doubles by Crutcher and Cole Metcalfe, to cut into the Flyers lead, 9-3.
 
The Knights didn't back down in the top of the seventh, scoring four of their five runs with two outs. After Bellarmine's Jes Staples hit a two-RBI triple, and Andy Gehr drew a walk, Lewis' reliever Kyle Klosak (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) was able to get third out of the inning when Gehr was out at second on Crutcher's ground ball.
 
Lewis starter Kendall Paluch (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic) got the win after throwing five innings. Paluch (3-7) gave up three runs on nine hits, struck out four and walked two. Klosak tallied his first save of the year after giving up five runs on six hits and walked two.
 
Bellarmine's McNair collected the loss after going 2.2 innings on the mound. McNair gave up six runs on eight hits and struck out two.
 
The Flyers and the Knights return to Brennan Field on Sunday (May 4) for two more GLVC contests starting at 12 PM. Between the games, the Flyers will recognize their 11 seniors on the 2014 squad.