The Benedictine University baseball team, ranked 15th in the nation, opened the home and conference schedule with a pair of wins over Lakeland, setting the tone in the first inning of both affairs.
BENEDICTINE 9, LAKELAND 2
The conference is using a new format this year with the opener of a doubleheader always being seven innings. Lakeland scored a run with two outs in the first to take their lone lead of the day but Benedictine responded with four in the bottom of the frame and did not look back.
DeShawnte Carraway tied the game with a sacrifice fly that came with the bases loaded.
George Betevis put Benedictine ahead with a three-run triple. Benedictine added a run in the third and four in the fifth.
The team totaled 11 hits in the victory led by three from
Logan Gregorio.
Anthony Lenza notched a pair. Eight individuals collected hits in the win.
Nick Kosmetatos moved to 4-0 on the year by working four innings while
Conner Kendall tossed the final three to post the save.
BENEDICTINE 10, LAKELAND 0 - SEVEN INNINGS
The second game saw Benedictine put four on the board in the bottom of the first and five more in the second.
Ryan Doubek led off the game with a triple and
Brennan Fisher opened the scoring by adding to his team leading RBI total with a single.
David Rubin doubled home a pair and
Peter Turelli made it 4-0 by reaching on an error.Wild pitches led to three runs in the second. Gregorio was able to put a premature end to the game with a homer to cap the scoring in the bottom of the seventh.
JT Adams threw 6.2 shutout innings to earn his first win at Benedictine.
Dan Dombrowski recorded the final out of the seventh. Doubek, Gregorio and
Kevin Bushnell all notched a pair of hits in the top three slots in the order. Doubek and Gregorio continued their on-base streaks which are now at 48 and 43, the two best in school history and two of the best in the history of Division III. Doubek is 12th all-time currently.
Benedictine (13-1, 2-0 NACC) will host #10 Aurora in a big early season doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon.
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