The Saint Xavier Cougars Baseball team wrapped up their March schedule this week with three big wins over two tough opponents.
The Cougars entered the week with a 16-9 record, which put them in first place in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC). Saint Xavier started the week on March 27th, when they travelled to Elgin, Illinois to play a doubleheader against Judson University. Judson entered the two game series with a 7-15 record. Cougars starting pitcher Gage Olszak completely shut down the Judson bats, allowing zero runs and only four hits in nearly seven innings of work.
The SXU bats helped his cause in the second inning when first baseman Ben Zordani hit an infield single to score a run. The next batter, second baseman Garrett Bright, grounded out into a double play, but scored a run in the process, putting SXU up 2-0. Olszak continued his dominant run for the rest of the game before being pulled in the final inning for Joe Strem, who struck out the final batter to win the game for the Cougars. Later that day, the Cougars played game two against the Judson Eagles.
Saint Xavier got off to a hot start in the top of the first inning when designated hitter Agustin Guerrero hit a RBI single that put the Cougars up 1-0. The next batter, center fielder Mike Farnan, hit a RBI double to put SXU up 3-0. Judson then scored a run in the bottom of the third inning to cut the SXU lead to just two runs. The Cougars fired right back in the top of the fourth inning with a RBI single from third baseman Matt Monahan. After a sacrifice fly from shortstop Mark Martin that scored a run, Mike Farnan was walked, which scored another run.
The Cougars ended the top of the fourth inning with a 6-1 lead. Judson managed to cut the Cougars lead to just four in the bottom half of the fourth, but SXU fired right back in the top of the fifth inning when a fielding error allowed a run to score. Saint Xavier pitcher Anthony Chimera came in afterwards and shut down the Judson bats for the rest of the game, allowing the Cougars to win 7-2.
The Cougars ended the doubleheader with a 18-9 record, while Judson left with a 7-17 record.
Two days later, Saint Xavier travelled to Palos Heights, Illinois to play the Trinity Christian Trolls. Trinity Christian entered the game with a 12-12 record. After three innings of pitching dominance from both teams, SXU center fielder Mike Farnan hit a RBI double to put the Cougars up 2-0. The next at-bat, designated hitter Max Downs hit a RBI single to put SXU up 3-0. Saint Xavier pitcher David Strom shut down the Trolls for most of the rest of the game until the eighth inning, when they scored a RBI double that cut the SXU lead to just two. Joe Strem came into the game for the bottom of the ninth inning and stopped the Trolls from scoring, winning the game for SXU 3-1.
The Cougars improved to 19-9 with the victory, while Trinity Christian fell to 12-13 with the loss.
Saint Xavier plays four times next week, three times against Lincoln College and once against Lincoln Christian University.
Chris Leonchik