NASHVILLE – Lewis' baseball team wrapped up the Trevecca Nazarene Trojan Classic with a 7-4 victory over Saginaw Valley State on Sunday to finish the weekend with a record of 3-1. The Flyers stand 4-3 on the season while the Cardinals are 5-3.

"I'm proud of our guys coming down here and winning three out of four against two solid in-region opponents," Lewis head baseball coach Tim McDonough said.

Lewis scored first with a run in the bottom of the second thanks to a two-out rally. Patrick Keaty (South Elgin, Ill./South Elgin) started it off with a double to left and scored on Dalton Crowder's (Romeoville, Ill./Plainfield East) single up the middle.

Saginaw tied the game in the fourth on an RBI single off the bat of Jordan Klapko.

The Flyers regained the lead in their half of the fourth. Keaty led off with a double to left and scored on Ryan Schefske's (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) two-out double to right center. Anthony Rios (Lemont, Ill./St. Laurence) brought home Schefske with a single.

Lewis extended its lead with a two-out rally in the fifth. Joe Preusser (Orland Park, Ill./Brother Rice) doubled to right and came around to score on Keaty's single to center.

The Cardinals got a run back in the sixth on a Klapko's solo home run to cut the lead in half.

The Flyers answered with two more runs in the sixth on RBI doubles from Chris Zeschke (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards) and Julian Everett (Frankfort, Ill/Lincoln Way East) to make it 6-2.

Saginaw scored twice in the eighth on Austin Koin's two-run homer before Jake Lotz (Palos Hills, Ill./St. Laurence) came on to get the final two outs of the inning. Angelo Cantelo (Blue Island, Ill./Marian Catholic) gave Lewis a little extra breathing room coming off the bench to hit a solo home run.

Lotz retired the Cardinals on eight pitches in the ninth to pick up his second save of the season.

The Flyers matched their season-high with 13 hits in the contest and were led by Keaty with three while Crowder and Rios had two hits apiece.

"Offensively, we were really clutch and got a lot of two out hits that brought in a bulk of our runs," McDonough said. "It was good to see us compete in those moments.

"Patrick had three big hits and gave us a great boast at the bottom of the order and Angelo's blast in the eighth was a great add on run."

Jake Karaba (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) got his first collegiate start and allowed one run on two hits while striking out six in the contest to pick up his first collegiate win. Ryan Ward (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) pitched 3.1 innings allowing three runs on four hits and Lotz retired all five batters he saw.

"I thought Jake was solid for his first college start," McDonough said. "He a struggled a little bit with command but he has the kind of stuff to work out of it and he did that effectively today.

"Ryan is such a steady arm in our bullpen and although he gave up a couple of runs he was really great creating a bridge in the middle part of the game," McDonough continued. "Lotz was fantastic and he's establishing himself as a very reliable late inning reliever."

Lewis opens GLVC play on Saturday (March 7) as it travels to William Jewell to take on the Cardinals in a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.