JOLIET, Ill. -- Anthony Panzella tossed his first shutout of the season in the University of St. Francis baseball team's 3-0 second-game victory over Saint Xavier University.  The Cougars, however, took advantage of four defensive mistakes from the Saints to rally for three unearned runs in the sixth and seventh frames before plating one more in the eighth of the opener to gain the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference split with its 4-1 Game 1 win at Slammers Stadium on Friday afternoon.

The Saints (11-17, 8-6 CCAC) required six hits to get the job done in the second game with Ryan Louthan's RBI double in the first inning being the biggest one for USF.  St. Francis collected five hits earlier in the day in the opener, where the Saints led the contest 1-0 through the first five innings before falling 4-1 by the game's end.

Game 1:  Saint Xavier 4, USF 1
The Saints appeared to be on their way to their eleventh win of the season, leading 1-0 with one out in the top of the sixth inning only to have Saint Xavier (16-10, 7-5) score two unearned runs.  Two walks, and a bunt single sandwiched in-between, set the stage for a back-breaking, overthrow at home plate on a fielder's choice that allowed both runs to score.

The fielding miscues would bleed into the seventh inning, with St. Francis committing three errors to start the frame resulting in SXU's third run of the contest before the Cougars plated one more in the eighth inning to cap the final score at 4-1.

Up until the sixth inning, starting pitcher Jack Otis carved his way through the Saint Xavier hitters, scattering seven singles, and holding a shutout through 5 1/3 innings pitched.  The defensive mistakes, however, erased the potential of a victory and a decent day for USF's hitters, who tallied five total hits in the contest, including a RBI single from Jake Merda.

Otis (3-3) took the loss for the Saints on the mound, despite not giving up an earned run in his 6.0 innings of work.

Trent Mackezich was credited with the win for SXU, upping his record to 4-1 on the year.

Game 2:  USF 3, Saint Xavier 0
Panzella (5-1) became the Saints' winning pitcher with his fourth complete game of the season.  He surrendered six hits against no walks, while striking out six.  SXU did have runners reach second base in four of the seven innings, but Panzella was able to get out of the first three jams via strikeouts and the last one with a flyout to centerfield to end the game.  Those were the only offensive threats the Cougars would make throughout the entirety of the game.

USF's first tally came in the first inning, where the Saints recorded two of their six hits for the game.  Max Montgomery's single started the inning with Louthan's double advancing him to home plate two batters later.  In the fifth, the Saints picked up an insurance run after taking advantage of a SXU error to start the inning.  Nate Maliska then drove Christian Rosales in with a RBI single to left field to mark the score at 2-0.  St. Francis plated its final run one inning later via a Mitchell Thomas sacrifice fly.

St. Francis' six hits were registered by five different players, including Louthan (2-for-3, 1 RBI), who was the lone Saint to collect two hits in the game.

Up Next
The two teams continue the four-game series on Saturday in Chicago.  First pitch for the doubleheader is slated for 12 pm at Ferrell Field.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.