JOLIET, Ill. --- Nick Villasenor needed just 72 minutes to toss his first shutout of the season in the University of St. Francis baseball team's 1-0 first-game victory. St. Ambrose University, however, rallied for six runs in the middle innings of the nightcap to gain the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference split with its 8-6 Game 2 win at Duly Health and Care Field on Friday afternoon.

The Saints (27-25, 21-8 CCAC) required just three hits to get the job done in the first game with Jake LaSota's lead off single in the second inning eventually coming around to score. He added three more hits in the nightcap, where USF got within one run twice before falling.

St. Ambrose (30-11, 21-7) tripled its hit count in the nightcap going from five to 15 hits to avoid the sweep. The Bees could have done further damage, but four Saint pitchers avoided more serious trouble by leaving 14 runners on base.

Game 1: USF 1, St. Ambrose 0
Villasenor (6-3) became the Saints' winning pitcher with his third complete game of the season. He scattered five hits and did not walk a batter, while striking out three. St. Ambrose did get a runner as far as third base twice – fifth and seventh innings – but Villasenor was able to get out of each of those jams. The Bees also had a runner in scoring position in the fourth inning.

The Saints got their run on a Sam Tumilty sacrifice fly. It came after LaSota opened with a single and went to third on a botched fielder's choice.

USF's other two hits came from Noah Kararo and Luke Ketchum.

Game 2: St. Ambrose 8, USF 6
St. Ambrose's top four hitters in the order combined for nine hits and five runs batted in to avoid the sweep. The Saints countered with two hits from Jake Vera in the leadoff spot and LaSota (3-for-4) in the No.4 hole. Both drove in a run, too.

Ketchum (RBI triple) and John McGuire (sacrifice fly) provided the Saints with an initial 2-0 lead after two innings. St. Ambrose, however, matched that and doubled it one half inning later when five of the first six batters reached base in a four run inning.

The Bees would add single runs in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and ninth innings to keep USF just far enough away from rallying. The Saints did make it a 5-4 game in the fourth inning on John Peterson's two run double.

They also got to within 7-6 in the eighth inning on LaSota's double.

Up Next
The two teams wrap up the three game series on Saturday morning at 11 am at Duly Health and Care Field. It is also the regular-season finale for USF.

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