QUINCY, Ill. – The Lewis University baseball team won both games of its doubleheader with Quincy on Saturday (March 13), beating the Hawks 3-2 and 13-5 at Quincy Stadium. The Flyers move to 4-3 overall on the season, 2-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, while the Hawks fall to 4-3 overall, 1-2 in the GLVC.
 
Joe Preusser (Orland Park, Ill./Brother Rice) led the way for the Flyers on the day with four hits, while Michael Sclafani (Oak Brook, Ill./Montini Catholic) and Jake Lotz (Palos Hills, Ill./St. Laurence) combined to pitch 6.2 scoreless innings of relief in the two games.

"Overall, today was a total team effort," Lewis head baseball coach Tim McDonough said. "Our offense had a much better approach at the plate than yesterday and we really grinded out at bats. Also, our defense was really fantastic today."
 
Game 1 – Lewis 3 Quincy 2
The Flyers opened the scoring in the top of the second inning when Michael O'Brien (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic) doubled home Kevin Barry (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin). Quincy evened the score with a home run in the bottom of the second and took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning.
 
Barry tied the game in the sixth on a RBI groundout to second base, scoring Anthony Rios (Lemont, Ill./St. Laurence). The Flyers then took the lead later in the inning when Preusser singled home Austin Tittle (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) for the 3-2 edge.
 
Lewis allowed just one hit over the final four innings, but a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth, followed by a sacrifice and a groundout put a runner on third with two outs. However, Lotz closed the game with a groundout to preserve the victory.
 
Jake Karaba (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) (2-0) earned the win, going six innings on the mound, allowing five hits and two earned runs, striking out four. Sclafani and Lotz combined to pitch three scoreless and hitless innings of relief. Rios and O'Brien totaled doubles for the Flyers at the plate, while Jackson Dvorak (New Lenox, Ill./Providence Catholic) had a triple.

"Game one was all about our pitching," McDonough said. "Jake was greta against a very potent Quincy lineup and Michael Sclafani (Oak Brook, Ill./Montini Catholic) was just outstanding in relief in both games but he really set the tone in game one.

"We did just enough offensively and Jake Lotz (Palos Hills, Ill./St. Laurence) did a great job closing it out in the ninth."
 
Game 2 - Lewis 13 Quincy 5
The Flyers again jumped out to a lead in the top of the second inning, this time on a Rios solo home run to take a 1-0 lead.
 
They added four runs to that total in the third inning to pull ahead 5-0. Dvorak had a RBI ground out, scoring Dalton Crowder (Romeoville, Ill./Plainfield East). Rios then singled home Anthony Cavalieri (Western Springs, Ill./Fenwick), Preusser singled home Rios and Angelo Cantelo (Blue Island, Ill./Marian Catholic) singled in Tittle.
 
Cavalieri made it 6-0 in the fourth inning when his single scored O'Brien. Quincy got on the board in the fifth inning with three runs to make it a 6-3 game.
 
But Lewis came right back in the top of the sixth inning as Cavalieri blasted a two-run home run to put the Flyers ahead 8-3. The Hawks responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, making it an 8-5 game after six innings.
 
An O'Brien single in the top of the seventh scored Preusser and after an error, led to Cantelo scoring, giving the Flyers a 10-5 lead. The Flyers then finished the scoring with three more runs in the ninth as Dvorak doubled with the bases loaded, scoring Cavalieri, O'Brien and Zach Teegan.
 
Crowder, Cavalieri (3 runs, 3 RBI) and Preusser all had three hits for the Flyers, while Rios (2 RBI) added two hits. Dvorak led the team with four runs batted in.
 
Ben Davis (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) (1-0) earned the win, going three innings, allowing two hits and no runs, striking out three. Lotz struck out four batters in two scoreless innings of relief.

"Game two was a slug fest and I was really happy with the production we had from top to bottom." McDonough said. "Quincy has great pitching and we did a good job jumping to an early lead and responding when they made a comeback.

"Ben was key in getting three clean innings and then the duo of Sclafani and Lotz did a great job of not allowing Quincy to make another run at us."
 
Lewis finishes up its series with Quincy Sunday at noon at Quincy.