JOLIET, Ill. --- After dropping a pair of Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference contests one day earlier, the University of St. Francis baseball team used solid pitching and hitting in just the right spots to claim 4-3 and 3-2 decisions over Olivet Nazarene University at DuPage Medical Group Field on Monday.
 

Three of the five pitchers to step up were freshmen with Matt Lopez (Morris, Ill.) earning the first-game win and Sam Pileggi (Plainfield, Ill.) gaining his first collegiate save.
 

Center fielder Dolan Nicholson (SR/Denton, Texas) and left fielder Shawn Harper (GR/Plainfield, Ill.) also came up big with key RBIs in each end of the twinbill.
 

Game 1 --- USF 4, Olivet Nazarene 3

After having a 3-1 lead wiped out by a two-run Olivet Nazarene rally in the fifth inning, the Saints placed the ball perfectly four times in the seventh inning to win the contest.  Catcher Jake LaSota (JR/Marengo, Ill.) opened the final inning with a bloop single that landed just inside the right field foul line. After a groundout advanced pinch runner Luke Ketchum (GR/Springfield, Ill.) to second, Noah Kararo (GR/Oswego, Ill.) collected his third hit of the game when his popup fell on the infield grass just in front of the catcher.  Josh Tesch (GR/Lockport, Ill.) followed with another infield single to third before Nicholson's two-out single to shortstop won it for the Saints.
 

USF built its initial 3-1 lead with back-to-back, two-out run-scoring singles to right center field by right fielder Travis Schoonover (GR/Braidwood, Ill.) and Kararo in the third inning and Harper's RBI single down the left field line in the fourth inning.
 

Lopez worked two scoreless innings in relief of starter Ryan Daly (FR/Plainfield, Ill.) to gain his first collegiate victory.
 

Game 2 --- USF 3, Olivet Nazarene 2

St. Francis scored single runs in each of the third and sixth innings without the aid of a hit and all three runs were pushed across the plate by a groundout, fielder's choice and sacrifice fly. Those scoring the three runs reached on a pair of walks and an error. 
 

That was just enough to even out Nick Villasenor's (Addison, Ill.) record at 1-1 after the senior left-hander tossed six innings of scoreless baseball. He allowed only four hits and one walk, while striking out three batters.
 

Joe McGuire (SR/Lockport, Ill.), Nicholson and Harper all drove in the runs, while Schoonover accounted for half of USF's four hits.
 

A pair of walks to open the ninth inning and a two-out, two-run double for Olivet Nazarene (8-13, 1-2 CCAC) made things interesting at the end. But Pileggi, who came on in relief of Nick Clemmons, who pitched two effective innings, coaxed a flyout to left field to end the contest. He also struck out two batters after the back-to-back walks.  
 

The Saints (4-6, 2-2) return to action Wednesday (March 24) against St. Ambrose University after the original Tuesday twinbill was pushed back a day due to an expected rainy forecast in Davenport.