JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis baseball team continued its offensive flurry on Friday afternoon at Slammers Stadium in scoring a pair of wins over Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent Olivet Nazarene University. The Saints defeated ONU 6-4 in the opener and completed the doubleheader sweep of the Tigers with an extra-inning 7-6 walk-off victory in Game 2.
Over the last eight games, six of which have been wins, the Saints have collected a total 95 hits and scored 67 runs with no less than six runs being scored in each of the victories. Head coach
Brian Michalak's club currently stands at 11-14 overall and 7-3 in league play.
Jake Merda and
Nate Maliska had the big at-bats on Friday with Merda authoring a solo home run over the center field wall in the opener and Maliska driving in the game-winning run via a bases-loaded walk in the nightcap. Merda finished the day going 3-for-6 at the plate with three free passes, while Maliska collected four hits in nine at-bats. Both men also accounted for two RBIs apiece.
Game 1: USF 6, Olivet Nazarene 4
After scoring its first run in the second inning, St. Francis' offense exploded in the fifth frame with six straight batters reaching base in a two-out rally that resulted in five Saints crossing the plate.
Max Montgomery,
Jake Klepacz, Merda,
Ethan Fleming and
Drew Dant all collected hits in the decisive inning, while
Mitchell Thomas (two) and
Alex Martinez (one) combined to coax three walks.
After allowing seven hits and three runs over the first three innings of play, senior
Sean Michalak settled down to record his second win of the seasoon on the mound against no defeats. He allowed just three hits over his final 3 2/3 innings of work, while striking out three against zero walks.
Zac Blazekovich came on in relief to work the final out of the game and pick up his second save of the season.
Game 2: USF 7, Olivet Nazarene 6
The Saints jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning only to see their lead quickly disappear after Olivet countered with four runs of its own over the next two innings of play.
St. Francis eventually took the lead back by plating three runs in the fourth inning after
Cliff Vickers doubled home two of the runs, with
Ethan Fleming adding an additional run after scoring on a passed ball.
Fleming would also drive in
Alex Mielcarz one inning later with a two-out single to right field to up the score to 6-4.
After taking the mound in the top of the fourth inning, USF reliever
Quinn McGuire was a puzzle the visiting Tigers could not figure out. McGuire would retire 15 of the first 17 hitters he faced and allowed just four hits over his five innings of work.
The Tigers made things interesting in the ninth inning, however, as they finally cracked McGuire's code with the first two batters connecting for hits. The second, a game-tying home run to right field, knotted the score at 6-6 and put a damper on McGuire's solid performance. Blazekovich was then called upon from the pen to quell the storm in that frame before duplicating the request the next inning by not allowing a run in either stanza.
In the final inning of the game, the Saints benefited from a single and two hit batsmen before Maliska came to the plate to author a seven-pitch walk-off walk to plate Thomas, who led off the tenth inning with a single to center field.
USF starting pitcher
Jacob Jurka went the first three innings, allowing three hits and four earned runs. Blazekovich upped his record on the mound to 3-0 after striking out two in his two innings of work.
Up Next
The Saints head to Bourbonnais, Ill. on Saturday (March 22) to complete the four-game series against Olivet Nazarene University. First pitch is at 1 pm at Watson Field.
You can keep up with all things USF on X @USFSaints.
