SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The Lewis University baseball team used 10 runs over the final two innings to take down Illinois Springfield 19-9 Sunday (March 9) in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest. George Bilecki (Chicago, Ill./Marist) led the charge, driving home eight runs.

TEAM RECORDS
Lewis 7-5 overall, 2-2 GLVC | UIS 7-7, 2-2

SUMMARY
Cain Headrick (Custer Park, Ill./Providence Catholic) opened the scoring with a home run to right field in the top of the second inning to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. The Prairie Stars answered with six runs in the bottom half of the inning to pull ahead 6-1.

Lewis got a run back in the top of the fourth as Headrick flied out to right field to score a run.

The bats heated up for the Flyers in the top of the fifth as they scored seven runs to pull ahead 9-6. A double from Tyler Phommachanhom (Plainfield, Ill/Parkland CC) scored a run and then Chris McDevitt (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) singled home Phommachanhom. Bilecki drove home McDevitt on a fielder's choice, setting up a grand slam from Jackson Hunley (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) to give Lewis a 9-6 lead.

Illinois Springfield got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, but Bilecki answered in the eighth with the second grand slam of the game for the Flyers to pull ahead 13-9.

The Prairie Stars got two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but the Flyers came back with six runs in the top of the ninth to finish off the scoring. Hunley had a RBI single and McDevitt added a sacrifice fly before Bilecki came up again with the bases loaded. He again cleared the bases, this time with a three-RBI double. A Jason Krol (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence) single then drove home Bilecki.

Bilecki went 3-for-6 in the game with four runs and eight RBI. Krol also added three hits, with McDevitt, Hunley (5 RBI), John Henry Russell (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) and Phommachanhom all had two hits.

Tanner Johnson (Sulpher Springs, TX/Triton CC) (1-0) earned the win in relief, going four innings, allowing four hits and one unearned run while striking out five. Carter Endisch (Pewaukee, Wis.) finished off the game with 1.1 scoreless innings.

UP NEXT
The Flyers open up their season at Brennen Field with a four-game set against McKendree, which begins Friday at 2 p.m.