JOLIET, Ill. --- Another big offensive day for Jake Merda and Dylan Scafuri resulted in two more Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victories for the University of St. Francis baseball team as the Fighting Saints put up 11 runs in each end of a twinbill with Trinity Christian College on Thursday afternoon at Slammers Stadium.  USF rallied twice for an 11-7 first-game victory before scoring in all but one inning of the nightcap for an 11-4 win.

Merda drove in seven runs in a league doubleheader for the second time this season, while Scafuri brought home four more runs via four hits each.  Among Merda's hits were a three-run home run and a three-run double in Game 2.  Scafuri (4-for-5) reached base in eight of his nine at-bats, getting hit three times and walking once.

Ethan Fleming (2 RBIs) was also part of the four-hit club on the day, while Nate Maliska extended his hitting streak to ten games with three more singles.

Jack Otis and Anthony Panzella matched each other on the mound with seven innings of work as both players improved to 3-1 on the campaign.  Panzella's effort was a complete-game performance.

The wins kept the Saints perfect in league play (6-0) and upped their overall mark to 9-11.

Game 1:  USF 11, Trinity Christian 7
After spotting Trinity Christian (9-9, 3-3 CCAC) two runs in the top of the second inning, the Saints sent eight batters to the plate in the bottom half, resulting in a 3-2 USF lead.  The guests, however, answered right back with four more runs of their own in the top half of the third inning to mark the score at 6-3 before St. Francis duplicated the run production in the bottom half of the inning to regain a 7-6 edge. 

Scafuri and Hayden Host each picked up RBIs in the fourth stanza to give the Saints a three-run cushion.  USF pushed across two more runs later by plating single runs in both the sixth and seventh innings. 

TCC would load the bases with no one out in the eighth inning, but a well-timed double play would squelch the threat, resulting in just one Troll crossing the plate for the 11-7 final count.

Scafuri, Fleming and Noah Munson all authored two RBIs in the game, while Host, Maliska and Mitchell Thomas each registered one.

Two Saints produced multi-hit games, led by Scafuri's 2-for-2 showing.  Fleming tallied two hits in four chances, and both men combined to score five of USF's 11 runs.

Otis (3-1) picked up the win, striking out three batters, while allowing four earned runs.

Game 2: USF 11, Trinity Christian 4
The Saints plated runs in all but the second inning, highlighted by a five-run fifth and a three-run third.  Merda delivered the big blows in each of those frames with his three-run, opposite-field home run in the third inning and a bases-clearing double in the fifth as part of his overall seven-RBI game.

The senior catcher was one of seven USF players to register multiple hits, going 3-for-5.  Maliska, Max Montgomery (4 runs), Ryan Louthan, Scafuri, Christian Rosales and Fleming each provided two hits, with Scafuri driving in two runs on his pair of singles.

Panzella struck out a pair of batters, while not allowing a walk in the route-going effort.  He scattered eight hits with only two of the four runs he yielded being earned.

Up Next
The two teams continue the four-game series on Saturday in Palos Heights.  First pitch for the doubleheader is slated for noon.

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