Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 \ Indianapolis Box Score (pdf) | Truman State Box Score (pdf)

Evansville, Ind. – The 2014 season came to an end for the Lewis University baseball team on Thursday (May 8) in a 9-7 10-inning loss to Truman State at USI Field in an elimination game of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament.
 
The Bulldogs improve to 25-27 on the season while the Flyers finish with a 26-25 record after dropping a 3-2 decision to Indianapolis (30-21) earlier in the day.
 
"I was really proud of the way we competed today," Lewis head baseball coach Tim McDonough said. "Both games could have gone either way and we had chances to score but we came up short."
 
"We played well, battled to come back," McDonough continued. "I was proud of the way we ended the season even though we didn't get the results we wanted."
 
Against Truman State, Lewis got on the board first in the fourth inning when senior Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) singled to left field to score senior Drew Buddle (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin). Buddle got on with a double through the right side and moved over to third on a ground out.
 
The Bulldogs took the lead in the sixth, scoring two runs on four hits. Truman expanded their lead to 4-1 as they tallied single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Albano collected his second double of the game to start the inning. Sophomores Austin Mastela (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) and Joe Sparacio (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) hit back-to-back singles to score Albano. Junior Mike Barajas (Chicago, Ill./Nazareth) extended the rally with a single back up the middle of the field before advancing on the throw home as Mastela and Sparacio scored to tie the game at 4-all and send it into extra innings.
 
In the 10^th inning Truman State scored five runs on six hits with three stolen bases to take a 9-4 lead.
 
The Flyers were able to get within two runs as Barajas reached on a throwing miscue by Truman State and scored two runs in the bottom of the 10th. Junior Jared Pyatt (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) singled in Murray for the Flyers third run of the inning.
 
Lewis reliever Brad Elmore (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) took the loss, throwing three innings and giving up five runs on seven hits. Elmore (2-3) struck out three and walked one.
 
Truman State reliever Chris Allard (3-0) collected the win in 1.1 innings of work. Allard gave up three runs, one earned, on two hits, while walking one. 
 
In the first game of the day against Indianapolis, Lewis got on the board in the fifth inning, when Sparacio scored on a sacrifice fly by Barajas. Sparacio, who collected two of the Flyers six hits against the Greyhounds, led off the inning with a single before advancing on a ground out and a wild pitch.
 
Indianapolis evened the score in the bottom of the fifth on two hits including a double by Zach Jacobs.
 
The Flyers quickly regained the lead in the sixth inning after senior Alex Slaby (Davenport, Iowa/Davenport West) scored on a Greyhound throwing error. Slaby, who went 4-for-4 at the plate, led off the frame with a single then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Drew Buddle (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin).
 
The Greyhounds knotted up the game at 2-all in the bottom of the eighth inning. Indianapolis' Luke Andrade scored as Anthony Asalon reached on a Lewis miscue at first base. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Indianapolis' Jake Weinzapfel hit a walk-off single down the right field line to give the Greyhounds the 3-2 win.
 
Lewis hurler Eann Cox (Erie, Ill./Erie) tossed 8.2 innings in the loss. Cox (6-5) gave up three runs, two earned, on nine hits, while striking out seven and walking three.
 
Indianapolis starter Matthew Kaplanis picked up the complete game win, giving up two runs, one earned, on six hits. Kaplanis (4-3) struck out three and walked one.