Monday
The Saint Xavier baseball team played against Roosevelt University. The Cougars’ offense could not get going in this one, resulting in a lopsided loss.
The Lakers put the pressure on the Cougars right from the get-go, scoring one run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead on the home team.
In the bottom of the first, the Cougars would try to respond, but could not collecting one hit in the bottom of the first while scoring zero runs to keep the game at 1-0 after the first inning.
The second inning started out just like the first as Roosevelt would score one run in the top of the second inning to extend their lead to 2-0.
But in this inning, the Cougars would respond by scoring a run to cut the deficit to 2-1. The run was scored by Erik Eggert off of a wild pitch.
From there, the game would turn into a pitchers duel as neither team could get on the board. The best opportunity to score for either team came from the Cougars who got a man on third and second with one out left in the bottom of the third inning.
Unfortunately, they were not able to capitalize on that opportunity, as they would strikeout and groundout to end the inning, still down to Roosevelt 2-1.
In the top of the sixth, the Lakers would score once again, collecting two runs off of three hits and a Saint Xavier error to push their lead to 4-1. Once again, the Cougars would not respond and end the sixth inning down 4-1.
After a scoreless seventh inning, Roosevelt would strike once again, scoring three runs in the top of the eighth to extend their lead to 7-1. The Cougars would once again not be able to score in their half of the inning, proving their lack of offense to be their downfall in this game.
A run in the top of the ninth scored by Roosevelt would be the final touch for what was a dominant performance by the Cougars’ conference rival as they would go on to win the game 8-1.
The Cougars offense could not get anything going in this one, recording only five hits in 31 at bats for a team batting average of .161 while striking out seven times and leaving nine baserunners on base.
With the loss, the Cougars’ record fell to 6-15. Their conference record also took a hit, dropping to 4-9 on the season.
Tuesday
The Cougars played in a doubleheader against the University of St. Francis. The Cougars were swept in this doubleheader, losing both games by the same score.
Game one of the doubleheader started with neither team scoring a run in the first inning as both pitchers started strong. After a scoreless top of the second inning, the Fighting Saints would be the first team to score, collecting two runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2-0 lead on the visitors.
After another scoreless half in the top of the third, St. Francis’ offense would explode, scoring four runs off of five hits to push their lead to 6-0 after three inning of play.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Cougars would finally get on the board in the top of the fifth, scoring one run and recording three hits to make the score 6-1. The run was scored off of a fielder’s choice by third baseman Eric West.
The next score in the game would come off of a home run by catcher Ryan Pellack in the top of the sixth inning to cut their deficit to 6-2. That would be the last score of the game though as St. Francis would win the first game 6-2.
Game two saw the opposition take an early lead. After a scoreless top of the first by the Cougars, St. Francis would score one run thanks to one hit and a Saint Xavier error to take the lead at 1-0.
After a scoreless second inning and a scoreless top half of the third inning, the Fighting Saints would open the gap by scoring three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-0 lead after three innings.
After a scoreless fourth inning and a scoreless top of the fifth, St. Francis would score another run in the bottom of the fifth to push their lead to 5-0.
The Cougars would finally get on the board in the top of the sixth inning, scoring two runs to make the score 5-2. The two runs were scored off of an error by St. Francis and a RBI single by shortstop Alec Barnhart.
The Cougars would try to come back in the game, but they struggled in the later innings to string together enough hits to make a comeback. The Fighting Saints would add another run to their total in the eighth inning to make the score 6-2.
That would end up being the final score and seal the sweep for St. Francis.
Catcher Ryan Pellack had a good doubleheader, going 4-7 from the plate including a solo home run in game one. In total though, the Cougars’ offense did not play well as the team combined to go 13-61 from the plate in both games while scoring just four total runs.
After getting swept, the Cougars’ overall record stood at 6-17 with a conference record of 4-11.
Friday
The Saint Xavier baseball team played Robert Morris University. The Cougars’ pitching did not have their best showing in this game, resulting in a close loss for them.
At the very beginning of this game, it looked like this game was going to be a pitchers duel as neither could really get hits or even get on base through the first 2 1/2 innings. That would change in the bottom of the third where the Eagles would score two runs on a base hit and a Saint Xavier error.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Cougars were, once again held scoreless which allowed for Robert Morris to score another run in the bottom of the fourth inning, off of two hits, to extend their lead to 3-0.
In the top of the fifth, the Cougars would get on the board, scoring two runs on three hits to get themselves to within one run of the Eagles. The two runs were scored off an RBI double by right fielder Jim Augle and an RBI groundout by catcher Ryan Pellack.
But that would be as close as the Cougars would get, as Robert Morris would answer in the very next half inning, scoring three runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth inning to push their lead to 6-2.
From this point, the game would become a pitchers duel as neither team could getting any offense going for quite some time. But in the top of the ninth, the Cougars would try to get back into the game, scoring a run off an RBI single by shortstop Alec Barnhart to cut their deficit to 6-3.
But they could not fully make the comeback, losing the game by the aforementioned score.
Starting pitcher Tyler Hebel struggled in this game, pitching five innings while giving up five earned runs, six total, six hits and two walks while striking out four batters.
Barnhart had a great game for the Cougars, going 3-4 at the plate scoring one run and collecting one RBI. Augle also had a good game, going 2-3 at the plate and collecting an RBI.
With the loss, the Cougars record fell to 6-18 with a conference record of 4-12.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor
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