GRANGER, Ind. – The Indiana University South Bend baseball team swept its final regular-season Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against St. Ambrose Saturday, May 1, at Rex Weade Stadium. The Titans topped the Fighting Bees 7-4 in game one and came away with a 8-1 victory in the night cap to improve to 22-22 overall and 18-11 in CCAC play.
With one game left before the conference tournament, the Titans sit in fourth place overall in league standings. The top five teams receive an automatic bid to DuPage Medical Group Field for the tournament.
Game One: IUSB 7, SAU 4
Seniors
TJ DeHerrera and
Logan Young both collected two hits as DeHerrera collected two runs scored. Sophomore
Logan Smith had a 1-for-4 showing with a game-high two RBIs and two runs scored.
Sophomore
Robbie Berger turned in a quality start, throwing the first five innings on his way to the win. He scattered seven hits and allowed four runs while striking out three to finish off the victory.
Zach Dehn came in for relief, tossing two innings with just one hit to earn the save.
IUSB took an early 2-0 lead on RBI ground balls from both Young and
Jared Bais in the first. The Fighting Bees got on the board in the third and cut the deficit to 2-1 off a single to right field that brought in the runner who advanced to third on an infield Titan miscue.
In the fifth, SAU took the 4-2 lead with a three-run inning off four hits before the Crimson and Cream quickly responded with a three-run inning in the bottom half.
Colin Mack and Smith both reached on an error and were brought home by a DeHerrera single to left and a Young double to left center as the Titans took a 5-4 advantage.
The Titans added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth off one hit, a hit by pitch and a fielder's choice. Third baseman
Jake Vanderwoude and pinch runner
Connor Wise did the scoring for IUSB to put the final tally at 7-4 in favor of the Titans.
Game Two: IUSB 8, SAU 1
IUSB cranked out 10 hits in the game compared to St. Ambrose's eight. Smith, Young and
Logan Young added two hits apiece as Smith had a game-high three RBIs after a 2-for-5 outing. Young went 2-for-5 with two runs scored while Unger had a 2-for-4 showing with two runs scored.
Zack Dobos threw an impressive seven innings with seven hits and just one unearned run with six strike outs after facing 32 batters to earn the win in the night cap. The Titans turned to their bullpen in the final two innings as
Matt Smith and Young both pitched an inning to help seal the sweep.
After St. Ambrose took the early 1-0 lead off one hit and two Titan miscues, the Crimson and Cream responded with three in the bottom of the fourth.
Tyler Welborn led off with a walk and eventually was brought home after Vanderwoude laid down an impressive sacrifice bunt to tie the ball game. The final two runs of the inning came from Mack and Unger to push IUSB up 3-1.
From there, IU South Bend scattered a run in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning before plating two in the eighth to defeat the league leaders, 8-1.
Indiana University South Bend is back in action tomorrow for the final regular-season game and series finale with St. Ambrose. First pitch at The Rex is slated for 12 p.m. in the nine-inning game.
