Eagles Survive And Advance In CCAC Tournament
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Olivet Nazarene (IL)
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 2 |
|
Judson (IL)
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | X | 7 | 10 | 4 |
Joliet, IL - The Eagles were able to get the first day of the CCAC conference baseball tournament off thanks to being the #1 seed. But on Thursday, they got all they could handle from a pesky Olivet Nazarene team.
The game was the first of four schedule to be played on Thursday in a rainy Joliet. Judson got off to a good start scoring a run in the first inning on a Kevin Flores groundout.
The back and forth action would just be getting started from there. In the third, Nate Stempowski pushed an RBI single to give JU a 2-1 lead. Then in the fifth inning, brother Blake Stempowski gave the Eagles their third lead of the day with an RBI.
Starter Alijah Acevedo was strong for six innings on the mound. But in the 7th inning, ran into some trouble. After getting the first two batters out, the Tigers mounted a comeback with six straight hitters reaching base to tie the game at 4-4. Acevedo's final line was 6.2 innings pitched, allowing four runs, and striking out eight batters.
Ryan Risch would get out of the 7th inning jam to keep the game tied.
In the bottom of the seventh, it was Nate Stempowski again giving the Eagles yet another lead on a leadoff, opposite field home run. Eagles would get another run in on a Daley Thompson ground out to make it a 6-4 game.
Finally, in the 8th inning, Blake Rosenow scored on a double steal to give Judson a seventh run, and make it a 7-5 game.
After scoring in six of the eight trips to the plate, and taking the lead on four seperate occasions, Judson was finally able to stall the Tigers attack and win it 7-5.
Ryan Risch was credited with the win in relief going 2.1 innings to subdue the ONU attack. It is his 7th win on the season.
For the game, the Stempowski brothers went a combined 4-7 at the top of the lineup with three runs scored and 2 RBIs.
The Eagles now advance to the winner's bracket to face St. Xavier on Friday afternoon at 1pm pending any type of weather issues. The winner of the game will advance to the championship game on a scheduled Saturday afternoon.