Niedzwiedz pitches Bees past Cougars
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saint Xavier (IL) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 2 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 2 |
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saint Xavier (IL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | X | 4 | 8 | 1 |
Brad Niedzwiedz allowed just four hits and one run in a complete-game 4-1 win over Saint Xavier in the first game of a doubleheader at Modern Woodman Park Wednesday afternoon. The Cougars came back to win the second game 10-8.
Niedzwiedz struck out a pair and surrendered SXU's lone run in the fourth inning that cut SAU's lead in half at 2-1.
The Bees had taken a 2-0 lead in the first inning, initially loading the bases on singles from Jake Mucha and Brandon Matias sandwiched around a Noah McCreary walk. Adrian Zietara's ground ball that the Saint Xavier pitcher couldn't field cleanly allowed Mucha to score, and Joey Fitzgerald followed with a sacrifice fly to center to plate McCreary.
SAU added two more runs in the fifth. Brock Webber hit a one-out single and was sacrificed to second. Zietara singled to put runners on the corners. Fitzgerald's ground out scored one run and Bryce Vincent's double to right pushed the lead to 4-1.
Niedzwiedz retired the final six batters to close out the win.
St. Ambrose (15-14, 9-7 CCAC) was unable to complete the sweep despite a pair of big innings.
Trailing 4-0, the Bees tied things in the fourth. McCreary blasted a solo shot to right to get SAU on the board. Singles from Webber and Matias and a walk to Zietara loaded the bases. Fitzgerald singled to score pinch runner Jalen Avery. Dan Laughery's potential double-play ball was thrown away allowing both Matias and Zietara to score to tie the game.
Matias gave St. Ambrose a short-lived 5-4 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. Saint Xavier (21-18, 14-8 CCAC) retied the game in the top half of the seventh.
A Matias home run to center, one of his three hits on the day, gave the Bees a 6-5 lead, and was the first of four straight hits for the team. Zietara singled before Fitzgerald hit an RBI double and Vincent followed with a run-scoring single to put SAU in front 8-5.
But the Cougars pieced together five hits to score five run to grab a 10-8 lead in the eighth. The Bees put a runner on in the ninth but came away empty.
Jake Jacek, the third of five SAU pitchers took the loss. Justin Lane started and worked 2 1/3 innings. Nathaniel Johnson threw four innings before Jacek, Sergio Marchizza and Aidan Goggins combined to toss the final 2 2/3 innings.
St. Ambrose will visit Roosevelt Friday before completing the four-game set in Clinton, Iowa, Saturday.