JOLIET, Ill. --- A cold day that featured rain, high winds and graupel did not affect the University of St. Francis baseball team's bats at Duly Health and Care Field on Friday afternoon as the Saints totaled 26 hits and scored 21 runs in a doubleheader sweep of Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Calumet College of St. Joseph. USF opened with an 8-1 victory and followed that up with a season high 13 runs in a 13-3 decision over the Crimson Wave (7-18, 2-6 CCAC).
Eric Maffie was the big hitter on the day for the Saints (9-18, 5-3) registering six hits and seven runs batted in with four of the hits and all but one of the RBIs coming in the nightcap.
John McGuire was right behind with five hits and two runs driven in.
Scott Tumilty sparked the outburst with his inside the-park home run to begin the scoring on the day.
Angel Sandoval and
Nick Villasenor both picked up their second wins of the season on the mound with route going performances. The latter also had a season high 12 strikeouts.
Game 1: USF 8, Calumet St. Joseph 1
Tumilty started a six run uprising in the second inning with his inside the park home run to right centerfield.
Jake Vera followed with a two run single with McGuire (groundout) and Maffie (single) also driving in runs in the inning.
The top of the order –
Noah Kararo, McGuire, Maffie, and
Jake LaSota – batted .500 (8-for-16) with each batter collecting two hits.
Angel Sandoval scattered six hits over his seven innings of work to improve to 2-2 on the season. He struck out four batters, while not allowing a walk.
Game 2: USF 13, Calumet St. Joseph 3
The Saints scored early and often to cruise to the Game 2 victory. They put up five runs in the first inning, including two on an
Alex Martinez triple. Maffie cleared the bases with his three run double in the second inning to open up an 8-0 lead.
It was just the start of a big game for Maffie, who reached base all five times he stepped to the plate. The senior first baseman totaled four hits with three going for extra bases (2 doubles, 1 triple) and one walk. He also drove in nearly half of the team's runs with six total RBIs, while scoring twice himself.
McGuire provided his second multi-hit game of the day (3-for-5) and drove in one run in each end of the twinbill.
Gio Pappas and
Sam Tumilty also registered multi-hit contests with two singles each.
Twelve of the 21 outs recorded by Villasenor came via the strikeout. He did not yield a walk, while allowing ten hits in improving to 2-3 on the campaign.
Up Next
The Saints conclude the three-game set with Calumet St. Joseph on Saturday in Whiting, Ind. First pitch is slated for 1 pm.
Live coverage can be found at gofightingsaints.com/coverage. You can also keep up with all things USF on Twitter @USFSaints.
