The Dominican University baseball team opened the 2018 season on Sunday at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Missouri, falling to the Fontbonne University Griffins, 3-2, before knocking off the University of Chicago Maroons, 9-5.  Dominican will head to North Park University to meet the Vikings on Wednesday before heading south to play at the Florida Coast Spring Training in Fort Pierce, Florida, March 4 through March 10.
 
"We came out of the gates as you would expect in game one," commented Steve Hardman, the Stars' head coach. "We were zombies before we came alive in the ninth.  We got a great outing from Colin Janison and battled back well in the ninth.  Then bouncing back in the second game after losing the first is not easy to do but we came out right away and put up six in the bottom of the first which ultimately put them away.  Tyler Brown struggled early but settled down to get us through the fifth before George Sherman came in for his first outing and he did a great job.  This is a good sign of what we expect from him this year."
 
Game One: Fontbonne 3, Dominican 2
 
The Stars struggled early with the bats before rallying to knot the game at2-2 in the top of the ninth.  Colin Janison was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in Dominican's first run of the game before Frankie Sessa followed with a bases loaded single to even the score at 2-2.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Fontbonne's Michael Puck tripled to lead off the inning.  With a pinch runner at third, Gus Purschke singled up the middle to push across the winning run.
 
Fontbonne's first two runs of the game came off of three Dominican errors as the Griffins opened a 2-0 lead after three innings.  Offensively, Dominican managed just three hits through the first six innings before loading the bases in the seventh and then finally breaking through in the ninth.
 
Janison got the game one start, surrendering just two unearned runs on seven hits over seven innings.  The senior right-hander struck out six while walking none while not factoring into the decision.  Sophomore Noah Loeffler came on for the final inning-plus, pitching around a leadoff single in the eighth before taking the loss with back-to-back hits to start the ninth.
 
Joe Kukla went 3-for-5 at the plate while Matt Segovia and Mike Buckley drew two walks apiece.  Dominican left 12 runners on base all game, going 5-for-15 with runners on base.
 
Game Two: Dominican 9, Chicago 5
 
The Stars jumped out to a 6-2 lead after one.  Segovia's one-out homer sparked the rally that saw Dominican score five runs after two were out.  Alec Coggins walked with the bases loaded before Nathaniel Natividad's infield single scored Sessa.  JP Escamilla followed with a two-run single before Kukla capped the rally with another infield single, this time scoring Natividad.
 
Working with the lead, senior right-hander Tyler Brown picked up the win, tossing five innings while allowing five runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out four.  Freshman George Sherman then came on for a 12-out save, surrendering just one hit and one walk while striking out three.
 
At the plate, Segovia and Janison both went deep for Dominican as the Stars pounded out 13 hits.  Sessa finished the game 4-for-5 at the plate with a pair of doubles while Kukla, Janison and Natividad all picked up two hits apiece.