LINCOLN, Ill. --- The first-ever meeting between the University of St. Francis and Lincoln College baseball teams proved to be an offensive day to remember for many with the Saints claiming 19-7 and 28-12 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victories by the time the dust had settled late Tuesday afternoon.
The two teams combined for 63 hits on the day with seven being home runs. Five came off the bats of Saint players, including grand slams from left fielder Shawn Harper(GR/Plainfield, Ill.) and third baseman Josh Kirnbauer (FR/Tinley Park, Ill.). Harper and Josh Tarlin of first-year league member Lincoln (2-20, 1-10 CCAC) both had a pair of home runs on the afternoon.
Second baseman/designated hitter Josh Tesch (GR/Lockport, Ill.) continued to carry a hot bat for USF, extending his hitting streak to 13 games with his 5-for-8, 8-RBI, 4-run day. He also homered and had a pair of doubles among his five hits.
Harper followed with six runs driven in and seven scored as part of his 4-for-5 day. Other Saints with four hits between the two games included shortstop Noah Kararo (GR/Oswego, Ill.), right fielder Travis Schoonover (GR/Braidwood, Ill.) and pitcher/second baseman John McGuire (FR/New Lenox, Ill.).
The Saints (9-11, 7-7 CCAC) finished the afternoon scoring in 12 of a possible 14 innings with at least seven of those innings producing no less than four runs. The highlight was a nine-run second inning in the nightcap.
Game 1 --- USF 19, Lincoln 7
The game was a storybook one for Harper, who hit the first two home runs of his collegiate career, a solo shot in the first inning and the grand slam in a six-run third inning. He would finish the game going a perfect 3-for-3 with four runs scored.
Tesch nearly matched a previous career-best with his six runs batted in in the game, including a two-run home run in the first inning to begin the scoring onslaught and adding a bases-clearing double in a five-run fifth inning.
Other Saints with multiple hits included center fielder Dolan Nicholson (SR/Denton, Tex.) (3-for-4, 1 RBI), first baseman Joe McGuire (SR/Lockport, Ill.) (2 doubles, 3 runs, 1 RBI), and Kararo (2-for-3, 4 runs, 1 RBI). Catcher Jake LaSota (JR/Marengo, Ill.) added a pair of runs batted in.
John McGuire went the first six innings to gain his second straight win against no defeats.
Game 2 --- USF 28, Lincoln 12
The Saints put Game 2 out of reach early scoring 19 runs over the first three innings, including the nine-run second inning, which featured Kirnbauer's grand slam and a solo home run from Schoonover.
Schoonover was all about extra bases in the nightcap, adding three doubles to his home run to account for his four hits. Those numbers also produced five runs batted in and another four runs scored.
Kirnbauer matched Schoonover with five RBIs as part of his 2-for-4, three-run second game.
Seven Saints in total authored both multi-hit and multi-RBI games. The others were Kararo (2-for-4, 4 runs, 2 RBI), Tesch (3-for-4, 2 runs 2 RBI), center fielder Luke Ketchum (JR/Springfield, Ill.) (4-for-5, 4 runs, 2 RBI) and John McGuire (4-for-6, 2 runs, 3 RBI).
Catcher Liam Higgins (FR/New Lenox, Ill.) also drove in a pair of runs, while first baseman Ryan Daly (FR/Plainfield, Ill.) collected a pair of hits and scored three times.
That was more than enough support for starter Michael Beaudoin (SR/Sycamore, Ill.), who worked the first four innings in improving to 2-1 on the season.
The two teams wrap up the three-game series at DuPage Medical Group Field on Wednesday (March 7) at 3 pm.
