On March 16, the Saint Xavier baseball team battled Judson University in the Cougars home opener.
The Cougars pitching staff struggled in their home opener, allowing 9 earned runs and 11 total runs to the Judson University Eagles.
The top half of the first inning did not start out well for the Cougars as they allowed the very first batter to get on base due to a hit by pitch. The Cougars then allowed that man to score giving Judson an early 1-0 lead.
After a scoreless bottom of the first half by Saint Xavier, Judson added to their lead, scoring four runs off of four hits to push their lead to 5-0.
The Cougars would answer back though, scoring three runs off of three hits in the bottom of the second inning to close Judson’s lead to 5-3.
But Judson shut down the Cougars offense the rest of the way, not allowing a hit until the sixth inning, and not allowing a run until the bottom of the ninth. Meanwhile, the Eagles scored six runs over that same stretch of time resulting in an 11-4 thrashing of the Cougars.
Saint Xavier starting pitcher, Jack Surane, did not have a good outing today, pitching only four innings while giving up seven runs, eight hits, three walks and two hit by pitches.
Relief pitchers Robin Prokaski and Kyle Sabie came in and tried to stop the bleeding, but gave up a combined seven hits, which resulted in four runs for the opposition.
To go along with their pitching woes in this game, the Cougars could not muster up enough offense to help out their pitching, hitting at .218 as a team and drawing only three walks and striking out four times. The defense also did not play well either, committing three errors.
First baseman Bryan Villanova had a good day at the plate, getting two hits in two at bats with one of those hits being a solo home run. Villanova also scored two runs and drew a walk.
Second baseman Jeremy Dryier went 1-4 from the plate and drove in a team high two RBIs. Third baseman Jacob Wimmer scored a run and hit an RBI.
With the loss, the Cougars fall to 2-9 on the season.
On March 17, the Saint Xavier baseball team played in a double header against conference foe Purdue University of Calumet. The Cougars would split the double header with their rivals, losing the first game due to a lack of offense and winning the second game thanks to an explosion of offense.
The start of the first game went well for the Cougars, scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning and a run in the bottom of the second inning to take a 2-0 lead on the Pelegrines. But that was all the offense that the Cougars could score, going scoreless for the rest of the game.
Meanwhile, the Pelegrines scored a run in the top of the third inning to cut their deficit to 2-1. The next inning, Purdue scored two runs to take the lead at 3-2.
In the fifth inning, the Pelegrines scored again to extend their lead to 4-2. The opposition scored another run later in the game, and went on to take game one of the double header 5-2.
Saint Xavier starting pitcher Jeremy Dryier had a rough outing, going only 4.2 innings and giving up four runs, two of them being of the earned variety, five hits, and seven walks. The Cougars offense did well in terms of batting average, hitting .300 as a team, but they just were not able to drive in runs, leaving 10 men on base.
In fact, the only person to record an rbi for the team was left fielder Bryan Polak.
Game two of the double header started out looking like it was going to be a pitcher’s duel as the starters for both teams would keep the other team scoreless for the first three innings. But that changed in the bottom of the fourth as Saint Xavier poured it on, scoring seven runs off of seven hits to jump out to a 7-0 lead.
The pitching staff remained lights out until the sixth inning where Purdue scored a run to make the score 7-1. In the top of the seventh, Purdue scored again, collecting three runs on three hits to close the gap to 7-4 and giving them life.
But the Cougars denied them a chance to win, scoring an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh to extend their lead to 8-4. The Cougars shut down the Pelegrines for the rest of the game and held on to win the second game 8-4.
Starting pitcher Tyler Hebel collected his first career win in impressive fashion. Hebel had a quality start, going 6.1 innings while giving up three earned runs, five hits, and one walk while striking out eight batters.
The Cougars’ offense really lit it up in this game, collecting 12 hits in 33 at bats, resulting in a team batting average of .363. Right fielder Drey Devereaux had one hit on the day, but it was a big one as he hit a three RBI triple in the fourth inning to really propel the Cougars to their first conference win.
Left fielder Bryan Polak had a good day from plate, hitting two doubles and recording an RBI and a run. With the split, the Cougars record stood at 3-10 with a conference record of 1-4.
On March 21, the Saint Xavier baseball team traveled to Milwaukee to take on conference rival Cardinal Stritch University in a double header. The first game of the double header was a nail biter, but Saint Xavier came up short. Game two saw the Cougars take the second game to split the double header.
The game was very much a pitcher’s duel from its beginning until its end. In fact, over the first five innings, the Cougars and the Wolves combined to get only three hits.
In the top of the sixth, the Cougars got on the scoreboard first. After a double by center fielder Drey Devereaux, catcher Ryan Pellack drove him in on a fielder’s choice to give Saint Xavier a 1-0 lead.
But the lead would not last long as Cardinal Stritch scored a run in the bottom half of the sixth to tie the game at 1-1. The game then reverted back to the pitching duel that it was for the seventh, as neither team could even record a hit in the inning.
The top of the eighth inning seemed promising for the Cougars after two singles by Jeremy Dryier and Tom Hayes put a man on second and first with one out.
But the Cougars could not capitalize on the opportunity, as Jim Augle and Ryan Pellack were responsible for the next two outs, stranding two players on base, and sent the game into the bottom of the eighth tied at 1-1.
In the bottom of the eighth, it looked as if the Cougars would be able to extend the game to the ninth inning after pitcher Erik Eggert retired the first two batters of the inning in relief of starter Dan Wetzel.
But somehow, the wheels fell off as Eggert allowed three straight singles, one of which being an RBI single, resulting in the Cougars losing to the Wolves 2-1.
Starter Dan Wetzel had a phenomenal outing in this game, pitching for seven innings while only giving up one run and three hits while walking none and striking out eight. He also held Cardinal Stritch to a team hitting percentage of .125.
Despite the great start from Wetzel, the Cougars could not produce enough offense to give him the win. The Cougars, as a team, had just five hits in 27 at-bats. Game two of the double header played out much differently than the first game as the Cougars found their offense in this one.
The game started out as a pitcher’s duel as neither team scored in the first two innings. In the top of the third, the Cougars got on the board, thanks to an error by Cardinal Stritch, which allowed Drey Devereaux to reach second base. He scored off of a sac fly by Ryan Pellack to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
After another scoreless inning from Cardinal Stritch in the bottom of the third, the Cougars scored another run off of a rbi groundout from Bryan Villanova to extend the Cougar lead to 2-0 after the top of the fourth inning.
The Cougars maintained their 2-0 lead until the bottom of the sixth inning where Wolves then scored two runs thanks to three hits and an error by Saint Xavier to tie the game at 2-2 after the sixth inning.
But the Cougars would respond quickly, scoring three runs off of three hits and two errors by the Wolves, resulting in the Cougars taking a 5-2 lead in the top of the seventh.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Cougars kept the home team from coming back like in the first game and held on to win the game 5-2.
Starting pitcher Matthew McKenzie had a solid outing, going 5+ innings and giving up two earned runs on just three hits hits and two walks, with two of those hits and both walks coming in the sixth inning.
Relief pitcher Kyle Sabie came in relief of McKenzie and shut down the Wolves’ offense, pitching two innings and giving up only one hit and one walk while striking out two to collect his 2nd win of the season.
Unlike the first game, the Cougars’ offense came to life in the second game. The Cougars, as a team, had a batting average of .266 in this one.
Second baseman Ryan Pellack had a big game from the plate, going 2-3 with a double and two rbis. He also scored one of Saint Xavier’s five runs.
On March 22, the Saint Xavier baseball team played its 3rd game in two days against Cardinal Stritch University, this time at Ferrell Field. The Cougars dominated the Wolves through their pitching and their offense, as well as the Wolves’ defense, or should I say lack thereof.
Based on how the game started, you would not have thought that this was going to be an offensive show, as neither team score for the first 1 1/2 innings.
But in the bottom of the second, that changed as the Cougars scored two unearned runs off of two hits and two errors by Cardinal Stritch to jump out to a 2-0 lead through two innings.
The two runs in the inning were scored by Jacob Wimmer and Declan Dennehy. After shutting out Cardinal Stritch in the top of the third, the Cougars once again went on a scoring barrage, recording two hits and scoring five runs, four of which were of the unearned kind, to extend their lead to 7-0 after three innings.
The two hits in the inning were a single by Dennehy and an RBI single from Bryan Villanova. The Cougars scored once again in the bottom of the fourth off of an RBI single by designated hitter Casey Papp to push their already big lead to 8-0.
They scored another run in the bottom of the fifth as well of off an RBI hit by pitch on left fielder Bryan Polak which made the Cougar lead grow to 9-0.
The game ended with the Cougars scoring another run in the bottom of the eighth off of a RBI walk by center fielder Drey Devereaux as the Cougars won this game by a score of 10-0.
There were multiple factors for why the Cougars dominated their conference foe. One of those factors was their offense. The Cougars’ offense had themselves a day as they recorded 10 hits in the game. The Cougars also showed good plate discipline, forcing Cardinal Stritch pitchers to walk them six times.
Another reason why the Cougars won was because of their phenomenal pitching effort. Starting pitcher Tyler Hebel pitched six shutout innings in the game and only allowed three hits and a walk while recording five strikeouts to move his record to 2-0 on the season.
In relief of him came Jeremy Dryier who was also outstanding, allowing only one hit to seven batters that he faced. The other factor that resulted in such a dominant win by the Cougars was the Wolves’ horrendous defense. Cardinal Stritch committed six errors in the game, which the Cougars capitalized on and scored six unearned runs.
With the win, the Cougars have won their second straight game and pushed their season record to 5-11 and their conference record to 3-5. The Cougars next game will be a road game at Purdue University-North Central on Wednesday, March 25, at 1 PM in the first game of a double header.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor
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