Senior Outfielder Shea Zbrozek
SXU Cougars
The Saint Xavier University (SXU) baseball team continued their hot streak, taking three of four against the Viterbo University V-Hawks as they begin the final month of the regular season. In a rare road series at home, the V-Hawks hosted the Cougars at Ferrell Field due to weather conditions in La. Crosse, Wi.
In Game 1, the Cougars wasted no time getting on the board thanks to a two-run double from Parker Violett in the top of the first inning. In the second, SXU would add one more run after Shea Zbrozek’s RBI triple.
The Cougars would go on and double their lead with a three run fourth inning. Zbrozek collected his 2 and 3 RBIs of the game with a two run single in the fifth, giving them a commanding 8-0 lead.
In the next two innings, the offense wouldn’t stop, adding three more runs making it 11-2 after Viterbo plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The final two innings would be quiet as both offenses failed to score, resulting in a 11-2 win for SXU in Game 1.
Pitcher Nick Krueger collected his third win of the season after pitching two innings in relief without allowing a run with one strikeout.
In the second game of the series, Viterbo would take an early 2-0 on a blunder by the SXU defense that allowed two runs to score on a dropped fly ball. It would be all they needed as the Cougars were only able to bring home one run thanks to a single by Parker Violett, despite having many opportunities throughout the game.
Even though Cole Martz was given the loss, he still put on a strong performance, going six innings and striking out five without allowing an earned run. Martz’s record on the season now falls to 2-3 with an Earned Run Average (ERA) of 3.57.
After a tough loss in Game 2, the Cougars turned the tide in Game 3 with a dominant 10-2 win. The first three innings started off as a pitchers’ duel with both starting pitchers keeping their opponents off the board early. But after a couple of defensive miscues by Viterbo, SXU would take a 2-0 lead in the fourth.
In the fifth, SXU would add on two more runs after a double from Aaron Orzech and a single from Max Waszkiewicz.
Two more runs would score with a double from John Simecek and another RBI for Violett in the sixth.
Viterbo would go on and add two runs of their own in the sixth and seventh inning, but it would not matter as the Cougars responded with a two run eighth inning.
After six innings of work, Thomas Plizga turned it over to the bullpen for the final three innings, allowing just one run and sealing the victory for the Cougars.
The fourth and final game of the series was a slugfest as SXU took a 4-0 lead in the top of first before the V-Hawks responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.
SXU doubled their run total in the second inning, plating four more runs and putting them up 8-4 early in the game.
Viterbo would make it 8-6 through the next two innings, but a five-run fourth inning for the Cougars would inch them closer to securing a series win.
Up 16-8, things were looking good for SXU, but the V-Hawks were not going down without a fight as they put up a five spot in the bottom of the sixth inning to make things interesting going into the final inning.
Up by only three runs in a game that has seen a lot of offense, SXU felt the pressure which resulted in adding two runs in the top of the seventh to make it a tough hill to climb for Viterbo.
Ultimately, the five run lead was enough to keep the V-hawks off the board in the final inning, helping the Cougars secure the series win.
Offense played a big part in the series win as nine different players collected at least one RBI, and 7 of the 9 players had more than one. Shea Zbrozek led the way with 8 RBIs and Parker Violett just behind with 6.
With just three weeks left in the season, the Cougars 12-6 conference record has them sitting in third place in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC), three games behind St. Ambrose University and just one game behind Judson University.
Starting Tuesday, April 7, SXU will host two crucial games against Judson that could have them sitting in second place by the end of the series.
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