ST. LOUIS – Lewis' baseball team opened Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Sunday sweeping Missouri-St. Louis 7-1 and 10-3 in a doubleheader at the UMSL Baseball Field. The Flyers improved to 7-4 on the season and 2-0 in GLVC play while the Tritons fall to 0-12, 0-2 GLVC.

"This was a great start to conference," Lewis head baseball coach Tim McDonough said. "But, we have to come out tomorrow hungry for more. We came up with clutch two out hits all day long which was huge. Offensively, Brandon Post (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove) continues to be a catalyst for us and Austin Tittle (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) had some very good at bats in game two.

"Our starting pitchers started off shaky but settled in nicely," he continued. "Pete Hamot (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) was dominant in after the first inning and Blake Marks (Gardner, Ill./Gardner-South Wilmington) really battled to get us into the seventh in game two. Ryan Ward (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) was fantastic again out of the bullpen and has really provided stability in the pen."

Game 1 – Lewis 7 Missouri-St. Louis 1
Hamot tossed eight innings of six-hit baseball allowing one run while striking out eight and issuing one walk to even his record at 1-1. Brandon Post (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove) led the offensive attack with three hits in three at-bats with two walks, two runs scored and two runs batted in. Connor Rutherford (DePere, Wis./DePere) was 2-for-5 at the dish.

The Flyers scored two runs on one hit and two Triton errors in the top of the first inning. Post led off the game with a walk, stole second and scored on a fielding error by the second baseman. After a groundout, Andrew Tenison (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) doubled to right center to score Ryan Schefske (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) with the second run of the inning.

UMSL cut Lewis' lead in half in the bottom of the inning. Jacob Stoker led off with a single down the left field line and Jarrett O'Brien followed with a double down the left field line. Jackson Dvorak drove in Stoker with a groundout to Michael O'Brien (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic).

The Flyers extended their lead scoring three times in the fourth. Lewis loaded the bases with three straight walks to start the frame. Julian Everett (Frankfort, Ill/Lincoln Way East) drove in the first run with a groundout to second to score Anthony Rios (Lemont, Ill./St. Laurence). With two outs, Post singled back up the middle to bring in Tenison and Austin Tittle (Lemont, Ill./Lemont).

The Flyers added another run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Tittle that scored Rutherford. Lewis scored their final run in the ninth. With one out, Schefske flied out to right scoring Post.

After allowing the run in the first, Hamot held the Triton bats in check giving up four hits over his final seven innings of work.

Game 2 – Lewis 10 Missouri-St. Louis 3
Lewis struck first in the second game with a run in the first inning on only one hit. Post and Anthony Cavalieri (Western Springs, Ill./Fenwick) walked to lead off the game and with one out, Schefske singled to right to load the bases. Rios brought post in with a sacrifice fly to center.

The Tritons scored three times in their half of the first taking advantage of a walk, a throwing error and a hit batsmen. Andrew Hayden gave UMSL the lead hitting a two-run double to right center and then Tom DeCero drove in the third run with a sac fly to center.

The Flyers regained the lead scoring three runs on two hits in the third. Tittle drove in Schefske and Rios with a two out double down the right field line to tie the game and then Dalton Crowder (Romeoville, Ill./Plainfield East) singled to right to bring in Tittle with the go-ahead run.

Lewis tacked on single runs in the fourth and sixth innings as Post scored on Rutherford's ground out in the fourth. Post then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Schefske to shallow right center.

The Flyers put the game away in the ninth scoring four runs on two hits as Michael O'Brien (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic) had the big blow in the inning hitting a two-run triple to left center.

Lewis' offense produced nine hits in the second game led by Crowder with three while Tittle added two. Post and Rios combined to score five of the 10 runs in the game.

Marks settled in after giving up the three runs in the first. Over his final 5.1 innings of work he allowed one walk and two hits to improve to 2-1 on the season.

The Flyers and Tritons conclude their three-game series on Monday with a single nine inning game beginning at 12 p.m.