SAU climbs to top of CCAC standings by sweeping Roosevelt
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 16 | 1 |
|
Roosevelt | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 3 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
|
Roosevelt | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 0 |
| Final (11) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Roosevelt | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
|
St. Ambrose | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 3 |
St. Ambrose kept rolling in conference play, sweeping a three-game set from Roosevelt. The Bees won the series opener 7-6 in 11 innings at Modern Woodmen Park Friday before sweeping a doubleheader at Roosevelt by scores of 7-6 and 14-8 Saturday.
The victories moved SAU to the top of the CCAC standings. The Bees are 18-20 overall and 13-5 in league play.
A late Roosevelt rally forced St. Ambrose into extra innings in Friday's single game. But the Bees got the walk-off win as Mike Pawyza started the bottom of the 11th with a triple off the rightfielder's glove before Thomas DeBrower ended things with a double to right.
DeBrower also drove in the game's first run, hitting a single to plate Jake Mucha in the second inning. Nate Villagomez added an RBI double in the inning. Mucha himself had a run-scoring double and Chris McFarland lined a sacrifice fly to left to give SAU a 4-3 lead in the fifth. RBI singles from Cooper Huckabone in the sixth and Bryce Vincent in the eighth gave the Bees a seemingly comfortable 6-3 lead. But the Lakers pushed across three runs in the ninth setting up the late SAU heroics.
Huckabone and Pawyza each had two hits while Villagomez, Vincent and DeBrower each picked up a pair.
Four St. Ambrose pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts. Jacob Bosse (six strikeouts), Nick Vollmert (four) and Parker Ruth (three) combined for 13 strikeouts over three innings apiece. Hunter Keim earned the win by striking out four over the final two frames.
Vincent, McFarland, DeBrower and Noah McCreary had RBI hits to help St. Ambrose to a 4-0 lead in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. Vincent put the lead at 5-2 with an RBI triple in the fifth.
But Roosevelt scored a single run in the bottom of the fifth and tied the game with a two-run sixth inning. Vincent pushed the Bees back in front with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh. Mucha added a much-needed insurance run with an RBI single later in the frame.
Roosevelt cut the margin to 7-6 and had the bases loaded with just one out before Keim induced a double-play ball to close out the win.
Brad Niedzwiedz got the win with an inning of relief in place of Joey Turek. Turek allowed three earned runs over five innings. Grant Baker recorded one out in the seventh before Keim entered and wiggled out of trouble to pick up the save.
Vincent and Brock Webber each had three hits while McCreary and Mucha had two apiece.
McCreary added four more hits in the final game of the weekend. He finished 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Huckabone and Vincent each had three hits and combined for five RBIs.
Webber drove in two runs. Villagomez, McFarland and Pawyza each knocked in one. DeBrower and Caden Thode each had one hit and a run scored.
The Bees scored in six different innings, pushing across multiple runs in five different frames. A three-run sixth upped the margin to 9-5 before a four-run ninth broke things open.
Nathaniel Johnson earned the win with 1 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. Conor O'Hara worked the first 4 2/3 innings and Nick Hernandez tossed the final 2 2/3 frames.
St. Ambrose will host St. Francis at NelsonCorp Field in Clinton, Iowa, Tuesday at 3 p.m.
