The Dominican University baseball team swept a doubleheader from the Marian University Sabres, topping the Sabres 7-2 in game one before outlasting Marian 5-4 in 16 innings in game two. The Stars' extra-inning victory in the nightcap secured Dominican's fourth appearance in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) in the last six seasons, and first back-to-back postseason appearance since joining the conference in 2006.
"I told the guys after the game, this was probably the most proud I was watching them play," commented Steve Hardman, the Stars' sixth-year head coach. "We battled and persevered. Our backs were against the wall and had to win that game. There were opportunities to lose that game, but we put our heads down and went to work. We got a great outing from [Colin] Janison and an outstanding performance from [Noah] Loeffler. We kept chipping away and finally came through in the 16
th."
"Both of those were huge wins for the growth of our program," continued Hardman. "To get back to the conference tournament is vital to the growth of the program and for the younger guys to experience the postseason."
With the wins, Dominican improves to 19-21, winning their final eight regular season contests, including six straight in NACC play. With a 10-10 record in conference action and a doubleheader sweep of the MSOE Raiders early in the week, Dominican claims the fifth seed in the NACC Tournament, drawing the fourth-seeded Benedictine University Eagles in the double-elimination tournament's opening round. The Stars and Eagles are scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch at Kapco Park in Mequon, Wisconsin, on Thursday.
Game One: Dominican 7, Marian 2
Dominican University senior
Daniel Supple set the Stars' single-season wins record, improving to 7-1 with his second complete game of the season. Supple limited the Sabres to just two runs on 11 hits while punching out five in a 7-2 Stars' victory.
Leading 3-2 heading into the eighth inning, the Stars started to pull away with two runs in the top of the eighth and then added another pair of runs in the top of the ninth.
Colin Janison and
Frankie Sessa logged back-to-back RBI singles in the eighth while
Brian Costello plated a run in the top of the ninth before
Roque Bruno scored the game's final run on a wild pitch.
The Stars out-hit the Sabres 12-11 in the win. Janison and Sessa collected three hits apiece while
Joe Kukla went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored.
For the Sabres, Jake Fallish went 3-for-4 at the plate while Tommy Miller, Tim Dziergas and Tommy Dugandzic collected two hits apiece.
Game Two: Dominican 5, Marian 4 (16 Inn.)
Tied 4-4 after ten innings, Dominican University turned the game over to freshman
Noah Loeffler who went six innings, surrendering just two hits while striking out one to pick up his first career victory.
After having runners thrown out at home in the top of the ninth and top of the 15
th innings, the Stars finally picked up what proved to be the game-winning hit in the top of the 16
th when Janison yanked a 1-0 pitch through the left side of the infield to score
Royce Salay who singled earlier in the inning. Loeffler then worked a 1-2-3 16
th to nail down the win.
Janison worked the first ten innings on the mound for Dominican, picking up a no-decision after surrendering four runs on 11 hits while striking out 12 and walking four.
At the plate, Dominican managed 15 hits, including three apiece for Janison and
KJ Wilk while Salay and
Mike Piotrowski picked up two hits apiece.
