BOLIVAR, Mo. - The Lewis University baseball team started Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday (March 9) with a doubleheader at Southwest Baptist. The Flyers came up just short in both games, dropping game one 7-6 and game two 10-9.
GAME 1 TEAM RECORDS
Lewis 5-7 (0-1 GLVC) | Southwest Baptist 4-11 (1-0 GLVC)
GAME 1 SUMMARY
Lewis struck first in game one, as
George Bilecki (Chicago, Ill./Marist) led off the top of the second with a double and later scored on an RBI groundout by Justin Krol. SBU answered with a run of its own in the bottom half.
The Flyers scored again in the top of the third, with
Thomas Fox (Norfolk, Va./Norfolk Christian) hitting an RBI double to plate
Patrick Keaty (South Elgin, Ill./South Elgin). The Bearcats scored three runs on three errors by Lewis in the bottom of the third to take a 4-2 lead.
Keaty hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth that scored Krol to make it 4-3 but Southwest Baptist scored another run in the bottom of the fourth and two more on a home run in the sixth to make it 7-3.
Michael Sclafani's (Oak Brook, Ill./Montini Catholic) day on the mound ended after the fourth inning as he allowed five runs (two earned) on eight hits and no walks with three strikeouts, taking the loss (2-2).
Lewis mounted a comeback in the top of the eighth, as Krol singled,
Chris McDevitt (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) walked and
Cain Headrick (Custer Park, Ill./Providence Catholic) hit an infield single to load the bases with no one out. Keaty had an RBI groundout to score Krol, and McDevitt later scored on a balk to make it 7-5.
Jackson Bruno (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame Prep) kept the deficit at two runs going into the ninth, finishing with two innings of scoreless work in relief with a pair of strikeouts. With two outs in the ninth, Krol and McDevitt hit back-to-back doubles to bring the Flyers within one, 7-6, but a groundout ended the rally and the game in favor of SBU.
GAME 2 TEAM RECORDS
Lewis 5-8 (0-2 GLVC) | Southwest Baptist 5-11 (2-0 GLVC)
GAME 2 SUMMARY
Both sides had the bats ready to go early in game two, with Lewis striking first on a leadoff homer by Fox. A walk and two hits by the Bearcats in the bottom of the first tied the game at 1-1.
The Flyers had a big inning in the second, scoring three runs on one hit and three walks. Headrick started the scoring with a double that brought
Tony Fleischauer (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic) home. Keaty walked, and Fox reached on a fielder's choice where Headrick beat the throw home to score.
Mikey Kocen (Beach Park, Ill.) hit a sacrifice fly to plate Keaty and finish the scoring on the inning. SBU punched back with four runs in its half of the second to take a 5-4 lead.
The Bearcats added two more runs in the third, and three in the fourth to bring the lead to 10-4.
Dylan Wolff's (Joliet, Ill.) day came to an end after 2? innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and one walk.
Lewis looked to make a comeback in the top of the fifth, scoring four runs to get back down just 10-8. Southwest Baptist got the first two outs of the inning, but an error kept the inning alive for the Flyers and they took advantage. After the error, Alt, Headrick, Keaty (2 RBI), Fox (1 RBI) and Bilecki (1 RBI) all singled as Lewis got back within two.
In the top of the seventh, Bilecki hit an RBI triple with two outs, but a strikeout kept the Flyers one run short as SBU won, 10-9.
UP NEXT
Lewis baseball wraps up the series at Southwest Baptist with a doubleheader Sunday (March 10) at 12 p.m. CT.
