ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Freshman Zach Parker (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) hit a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning to give Lewis a 6-5 victory in game two of Saturday's (May 7) Great Lakes Valley Conference baseball doubleheader. The Flyers lost game one 5-4 to the Knights.

The Flyers needed a sweep on Saturday over Bellarmine during the regular season finale to earn a spot in the GLVC Tournament. The split leaves Lewis with the same 15-13 GLVC record as UIS. The Prairie Stars win the tie breaker over Lewis for the final GLVC Tournament berth from the East Division.

"We battled like we have all year," Lewis head coach Tim McDonough said. "We just came up a game short."

Game One – Bellarmine 5, Lewis 4 (HTML Box | PDF Box)
Lewis fell behind 3-0 after the first inning. Lewis starter senior Phil Warner (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) bounced back and finished all seven innings, allowing five runs (two earned) with two strikeouts.

It was a 5-2 ballgame in the sixth when Parker delivered a bases loaded single to get the Flyers within one at 5-4. However the Flyers went 1-2-3 in the seventh to drop the opener.

It was a battle of opposing Warners on the mound as Bellarmine's Austin Warner went six innings to get the win and move his record to 4-3. John Hakemoller threw the seventh for his first save of the year for the Knights. Lewis' Warner sees his record drop to 1-3.

Senior Austin Mastela (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) had two hits in the opener for the Flyers. Senior Joe Sparacio (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) hit the only home run of the day. It was a solo shot to left in the third inning.

Game Two – Lewis 6, Bellarmine 5 (HTML Box | PDF Box)
The Flyers found themselves down 5-1 after six and a half innings.

In the seventh, Sparacio delivered a one-out double deep to the corner in left. Senior Joel Rotkvich (Crestwood, Ill./St. Laurence) and sophomore Neal Tyrell (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) came around to score. Tyrell wheeled around from first base and slid in just under the tag.

The Flyers advanced within a run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by freshman Brandon Post (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove) to score senior Kurt Becker (Palatine, Ill./Palatine). With two outs, Rotkvich knocked a double just within the third base bag to score Parker to tie the game.

In the top of the ninth, junior Nick Davito (Crest Hill, Ill./Lockport) came in to pitch. He earned two quick outs before Bellarmine put runners at first and third. Nick Wright hit a bouncer to Lewis second baseman Tyrell's left. Tyrell made a diving stop on the ball for an out and to keep the leading run from scoring.

In the ninth, Lewis loaded the bases with one out. It was Parker's turn again, and despite a five-man infield from the Knights, he found a hole to earn a game-winning single. Mastela scored the game winning run.

Davito earned the win. He finished the 2016 campaign with a 4-0 record. Kyle Beach took the loss for Bellarmine. He is now 0-2.

The game two loss drops Bellarmine to 25-23 (15-11 GLVC). Lewis finishes the 2016 campaign 26-21 (15-13 GLVC).

Between games, Lewis honored seniors Warner, Sparacio, Rotkvich, Mastela, Becker, Cale Robinson (Weldon, Ill./Clinton), Cory Starnes (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) and Chris Pikoulas (Frankfort, Ill./Carl Sandburg) during a Senior Day ceremony.