Pitching helps SAU split four-game set at Bethel
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (IA) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
|
Bethel (TN) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (IA) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 1 |
|
Bethel (TN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 4 |
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (IA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
Bethel (TN) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | X | 3 | 7 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (IA) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 14 | 1 |
|
Bethel (TN) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 3 |
A pair of strong pitching performances helped St. Ambrose earn a four-game split at Bethel (Tenn.) Friday and Saturday.
Behind the pitching of Connor Bird and Dominic Guzman, the Bees swept Friday's games by scores of 5-0 and 11-5. Bethel bounced back to sweep Saturday's doubleheader 3-0 and 11-10.
Bird cruised in the opener, tossing a three-hit shutout. He struck out four and walked a pair.
SAU staked Bird to an early lead as Michael Rago ripped a two-run home run to plate Eric Gonzalez in the second inning. The Bees gave him some breathing room in the seventh. Michael Stupavsky had an RBI double before Mason Heitzler and Bryce Vorwald had run-scoring hits.
Gonzalez was 3-for-3 while Jake Pauley, Quinn Flanagan and Matthew McBrien also had hits.
Guzman followed that up by allowing one run over five innings in the 11-5 win. He struck out four while allowing six hits and one walk.
St. Ambrose (5-7) scored single runs in the first three innings. An error gave the Bees a 1-0 lead in the first. Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the second and Stupavsky singled in Pauley in the third.
Leading 3-1, Vorwald cleared the bases with a three-run double in the fifth. Peter Mitchell and Heitzler each had an RBI double in the sixth before McBrien's RBI single pushed the lead to 10-1. Aaron Vertuno drove in Mason Nauman with a hit in the seventh.
Mitchell and Stupavsky each had two hits. Filip Milatovic also singled in the win.
Jack Kerpan pitched the final two innings in relief of Guzman.
SAU got a strong effort from David Biedron in Saturday's first game. He was charged with the loss despite allowing three runs over six innings. All three runs came in the fifth inning.
The Bees first 12 hitters were retired in order before Luke Brabham led off the fifth by drawing a walk. The team's only hit came in the seventh when Flanagan started the frame with a single. He was erased on a double-play ball to end the game.
The series finale featured the two teams combining for 21 runs and nine pitchers.
A McBrien double, a Vorwald homer and a Mitchell double helped St. Ambrose to a 4-0 lead after two innings. But then Bethel exploded for 10 runs over the next three innings. The Bees countered with a McBrien solo shot but trailed 10-5 after five.
It was then SAU's turn for a big inning. Vorwald, Flanagan, Stupavsky and Heitzler drove in runs to trim the deficit to 10-9 after six. And Flanagan tied the game with a two-out single in the seventh. But the Wildcats got the walk-off win in the bottom half of the inning.
Vorwald was 4-for-5 with three runs scored. Flanagan and McBrien each had three hits and Stupavsky added two.
Aidan Stratton, the last of six Bee pitchers, took the loss. He followed Michael Moise, Brandon Cusack, Aidan Pieniazek, Matt Donovan and Nathaniel Johnson.
The Bees will open CCAC play next weekend with a four-game series with Saint Xavier. The two games Friday will be in Chicago before St. Ambrose will host the final two games Saturday at Black Hawk College in Moline, Ill.