The Dominican University baseball team clawed back to .500 on the season for a couple of hours with a 13-6 win over the MacMurray College Highlanders in game one of a doubleheader before dropping game two 11-5.  The Stars now stand at 6-7 on the season with a trio of non-conference games on the schedule for next weekend starting with a 10:30 a.m. tilt with North Park University on Friday.
 
"The first game was probably the closest we have come to playing a complete game all year," commented Steve Hardman, the Stars' fifth-year head coach. "However, we fell victim to the second game of a doubleheader yet again.  We didn't come out with much energy and execution in game two.  If we are going to be a good team this year, and compete for a conference championship, we need figure out how to sweep a team and put them away."
 
Game One: Dominican 13, MacMurray 6
 
The Stars rode the right arm of Colin Janison (Las Vegas, Nev.) to the 13-6 victory as the tall right-hander tossed five innings to improve to 2-2 on the mound.  The Las Vegas native surrendered just one earned run on seven hits and two walks while striking out three before giving way to Quinlan Milne Rojek (Minneapolis, Minn.) who worked with a 13-5 lead for the final six outs.
 
Offensively, Mike Piotrowski (Arlington Heights, Ill.) continued his assault on opposing pitchers with a three-hit effort, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in.
 
Milne Rojek put the Stars ahead in the top of the second when he cleared the bases with a double, the first of three hits on the day for the senior.  Milne Rojek then scored when Janison helped his cause with an RBI single.
 
After MacMurray got a run back in the bottom of the second, Milne Rojek capped a three-run third for the Stars with an RBI double that scored JT Hicks (Albion, Mich.) after Hicks rapped out an RBI single earlier in the frame.
 
After the Highlanders got another single run back in the bottom of the third, Dominican hung another trio of runs on the board in the top of the fourth, including a two-run double by Piotrowski to open a 10-2 lead after four innings.
 
MacMurray pulled within 10-5 after five but the Stars tacked on three more runs in the top of the sixth, including the third double of the game for Milne Rojek who finished 3-for-3 with three doubles and six RBI in the winning effort.
 
Janison and Hicks added two hits apiece for the Stars who tallied 12 hits all game.
 
Game Two:  MacMurray 11, Dominican 5
 
After Piotrowski's two-run homer in the top of the second leveled the score at 2-2 after two innings, the Highlanders plated the next five runs, including a four-run third to open a 7-2 lead and never looked back.
 
The Stars were able to push across three runs in the top of the fifth when Piotrowski and Hicks opened the inning with back-to-back singles.  However, after a trio of walks and a sacrifice fly, Dominican left the bases loaded in the inning.
 
In total, the Stars stranded 13 runners all game despite collecting nine hits and receiving eight free passes from the Highlanders.
 
Piotrowski, Hicks, Lucas McKinney (Arvada, Colo.) and Royce Salay (Henderson, Nev.) tallied two hits apiece.  Piotrowski, a freshman, now boasts a team-leading .481 batting average with 13 RBI.  The Arlington Heights native has eight multi-hit games and has reached base safely in every game this season.