The Saint Xavier Cougars Baseball team were absolutely crushing the ball this week.
They played four games this week, two against Indiana University-South Bend and two against Calumet College, and won all four of them on the backs of their offense.
The team started the week on April 9th, when they played Indiana University-South Bend in a doubleheader. The Cougars entered the doubleheader with a 21-11 record, while the Titans entered the doubleheader with a 8-27 record.
Both teams absolutely walloped the ball, but the Cougars eventually took the lead after the first inning by a score of 4-2. The Titans scored seven unanswered runs to put them back up 9-4 in the top of the third inning.
The Cougars fired right back in the bottom half of the inning with a three run homerun from center fielder Max Downs. Second baseman Garrett Bright grounded out to score another run and cut down the Titan’s lead to just one going into the fourth inning.
However, the Titans added another three runs to their total and took a 12-8 lead going into the fifth inning.
The Cougars finally took the lead in the fifth inning when shortstop Mark Martin and center fielder Max Downs together drove in five runs to put the Cougars up 13-12. The Titans tied the game up at 13 after SXU pitcher Jared Jones walked in a runner.
In the bottom of the seventh, with the bases loaded for Saint Xavier, the Titans walked first baseman Zach Forney to score a run and win the game for the Cougars. Later that day, the Cougars absolutely decimated the Titans and won game two by a score of 19-6. Saint Xavier improved to 23-11 with their two victories, while IU-South Bend fell to 8-29 with their two losses.
Saint Xavier next played on April 13th in a two game doubleheader against Calumet College. The Crimson Wave entered the series with a 8-28 record.
The Cougars kicked off the game with an offensive explosion, scoring five runs on the backs of Mark Martin and Garrett Bright, who drove in a combined four runs. The other run came thanks to a throwing error from Calumet catcher Trevor Johnson, who, in an attempt to throw out SXU designated hitter Mike Farnan, threw the ball into foul territory, allowing a run to come home.
Saint Xavier pitcher Tim Brokop shut down the Crimson Wave offense for most of the rest of the game, until the sixth inning. That’s when Calumet was able to score two runs thanks to a fielding error from Garrett Bright. The Cougars entered the final inning up 7-2 with pitcher Justin Hunniford going out to close the game. However, things didn’t go quite as planned as the Crimson Wave went off, scoring three runs thanks to a throwing error, a triple, and a sacrifice fly.
Before Hunniford could even get an out, he was taken out of the game for Joe Strem, who was able to shut down the Crimson Wave and get the victory by a score of 7-6.
Later that day, the Cougars destroyed Calumet 24-3. Saint Xavier improved to 25-11 with their two victories, while Calumet fell to 8-30 with their two losses.
Saint Xavier plays four times next week, once against Robert Morris University and three times against St. Francis (IL).
Chris Leonchik
Sports Editor
About Post Author
