JOLIET, Ill. --- Four University of St. Francis pitchers combined to yield just one unearned run over 16 innings to get the Saints' six-game homestand off on the right foot Wednesday afternoon with a 6-0 and 5-1 doubleheader sweep of Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Calumet College of St. Joseph at DuPage Medical Group Field.
Freshman Ryan Daly (Plainfield, Ill.) (1-2) set the tone for the day by allowing just one hit over his five innings of work to record his first collegiate victory. Senior Nick Villasenor (Addison, Ill.) (2-2) followed with a career-best ten-strikeout performance in the nightcap.
The Saints also got clutch hitting in both ends of the twinbill with seven of their 11 runs scored on the day coming after two out.
The pair of victories extended St. Francis' winning streak to a season-high seven games and put it at 13-11 overall and 11-7 in league play.
Game 1 --- USF 6, Calumet St. Joseph 0
The Saints got all of their scoring out of the way in the first two innings when both Josh Tesch (GR/Lockport, Ill.) (3-for-4) and Noah Kararo (GR/Oswego, Ill.) – the left side of the infield - collected a pair of hits and drove in one run each. Kararo also caught a napping Calumet St. Joseph defense to score the first run of the game on an infield popout.
Second baseman/center fielder Dolan Nicholson (SR/Denton, Texas) also had a pair of hits and drove in a run.
Designated hitter Joe McGuire (SR/Lockport, Ill.) had the big hit, a two-out, two-run home run to close out the scoring both in the four-run second inning and for the game. Five of six USF runs came after two batters were out.
Daly faced only three batters over the minimum in his five innings getting a pickoff and a double play to offset two of the five batters he allowed to reach base. Four of those came on a pair of hit batsmen and two walks.
Nick Clemmons (SR/Channahon, Ill.) closed things out with two scoreless innings of relief, including getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning.
Game 2 --- USF 5, Calumet St. Joseph 1
Villasenor recorded the ten strikeouts over seven innings with six strikeouts coming in succession in the fifth and sixth innings. He allowed five hits and the one unearned run, while permitting two walks. Kevin Kardas (JR/Hampshire, Ill.) worked the final two innings of relief for the second day in a row.
Shawn Harper (GR/Plainfield, Ill.) had a big two-out, two-run single in the sixth inning to open up a tight 3-1 game after five innings. The Saints had built a 3-0 lead after the first three innings.
Nicholson also matched his first-game RBI with one in the second affair, while Travis Schoonover (GR/Braidwood, Ill.) collected two hits and scored twice.
Another doubleheader awaits the Saints on Thursday with CCAC member Trinity International University providing the competition. First pitch is at 3 pm.
