ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – It was a successful 2016 home opener on Friday (March 25) as the Lewis baseball team swept UW-Parkside, 17-2 and 8-6, in a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader at Brennan Field. The Flyers' wins extend their win streak to eight games.

Game One – Lewis 17, UW-Parkside 2 (HTML Box | PDF Box)

Lewis earned a convincing win in game one thanks to 17 unanswered runs after the Rangers scored twice in the first inning.

The Flyers tied it with a pair in the third, but put it away thanks to a 10-spot in the fourth. Lewis recorded eight hits and three walks in the frame to put up the double-digit run total. The scoring started with a two-run home run by senior Joe Sparacio (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central).

Sophomore Ethan Bloom (Schaumburg, Ill./Hoffman Estates) also had a home run in the game. Lewis can contribute much of their success due to their patience as Lewis recorded 10 walks and three hit by pitches in the game.

Senior Austin Mastela (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) finished 3-of-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Junior Brandon Collins (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln Way North) had a pair of doubles. He knocked in one run and scored twice.

Junior Alex Shake (Glasford, Ill./Canton) went seven innings, allowing one earned run, with five strikeouts to get the win. He is 2-1. Mario Samuel earned the loss for UW-Parkside. He is 0-1 after giving up eight runs in 3.1 innings.

Game Two – Lewis 8, UW-Parkside 6 (HTML Box | PDF Box)

Sophomore Neal Tyrell (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) hit a two-run home run in the third to put the Flyers up for good.

UW-Parkside scored two in the top of the fourth to advance within a run at 4-3. The Flyers put three on the board in the fifth thanks to some two-out hitting. Mastela doubled to left center to score a pair. He then came around on a single by senior Kurt Becker (Palatine, Ill./Palatine).

Senior Phil Warner (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) pitched a scoreless ninth to get his third save of the season. Nate Stolte took the loss for UW-Parkside, he is 1-3 after allowing four runs in 2.2 innings. Freshman Pete Hamot (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) threw 4.2 innings to improve his record to 2-1. Just two of the five runs he gave up were earned.

Five Flyers recorded two hits for Lewis in game two. Tyrell, Mastela and Becker each scored twice to go with their two hits.

"You always want to get off to a good start, especially in this conference," Lewis head coach Tim McDonough said. "It's a grind. You have 28 of these. It's not like the season rested on these two games, but it feels awfully good to start 2-0 in the conference slate."

UW-Parkside falls to 3-13 (0-2 GLVC). Lewis improves to 12-5 (2-0 GLVC). The Flyers and Rangers will play a doubleheader on Saturday (March 26) at noon at Brennan Field.