JOLIET, Ill. --- The University of St. Francis baseball team used the power of Eric Maffie and Luke Ketchum to gain a split decision of its non-conference doubleheader with Indiana Institute of Technology on Tuesday afternoon at Duly Heath and Care Field. The Saints rallied for a 9-8 victory in Game 1 before dropping a 10-2 second-game decision.

Ketchum homered to get the Saints close before Maffie delivered a three run shot to center field to put the hosts up for good. Mack Malczewski was also a key piece to the winning puzzle with his 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

The Saints (24-24) had 18 players get starts on the day between the two games.

Game 1: USF 9, Indiana Tech 8
Indiana Tech held a 5-1 lead after the first three innings before the Saints put up eight runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined to claim the come from behind victory.

The two teams exchanged single runs in the opening inning with Maffie driving in USF's run with a single. He also started the initial three run rally in the fourth inning with his leadoff double. Ketchum's two run home run cut the deficit to 6-4.

One inning later, Jake Vera and Noah Kararo authored back to back one out singles to set the stage for Maffie's three run home run. The Saints were not done in that inning, however, with Sam Tumilty and John Peterson driving in what turned out to be two important insurance runs with their two out RBI singles.

Maffie finished the contest going 3 for 4 with four runs batted in and two runs scored. Vera added a pair of hits and two runs.

Malczewski got things under control on the pitching side with his scoreless stretch. After Indiana Tech produced six runs on three hits, six walks, and a hit batsmen in the first two plus innings, Malczewski came out of the bullpen to deliver ten outs against only one hit and no runs to gain the win and even his record at 1-1.

Angel Sandoval worked the seventh inning to record the save.

Game 2: Indiana Tech 10, St. Francis 2
The Saints trailed 8-0 before they even came to the plate for the first time as the Warriors took advantage of three USF errors to produce the first inning outburst.

USF's only runs came in the sixth inning when Quinn McGuire delivered a two run single as part of a two hit game for him. Ketchum (2-for-2) was the only other Saint to produce multiple hits in the affair.

Up Next
After ten-plus days without playing a conference game, the Saints return to league play on Wednesday when they host Indiana University in a doubleheader beginning at 3 pm.   
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