Schaumburg, IL – The Dominican University baseball team returned to Wintrust Field on Saturday after a week off and swept the visiting MSOE Raiders 4-3 and 7-4 to win a pair of NACC non-conference crossover games.

Dominican started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning of game one as Johnny Condron leadoff the frame with a hit by pitch before stealing second base. After Payton Brooks walked, the Stars attempted a double steal and the MSOE catcher's throw sailed into left field to bring Condron home for a 1-0 lead after one inning of play.

The Raiders responded in the top of the second as a leadoff double was followed by a triple to plate the first run of the inning. The next batter reached on an error that brought the runner home from third before he came around to score on another double to put MSOE ahead 3-0 after two innings.

A Ryan Simak walk to start the bottom of the fifth put the wheels in motion for the Stars as a sacrifice bunt by Kevin Evans moved him to second with one out. With two outs, Brooks came up with a clutch hit up the middle to plate Simak and trim the deficit to one, 3-2, after five innings.

Fast Forward to the ninth inning with the score remaining 3-2 in the Raiders favor. Dominican once again did a great job of getting the leadoff hitter on base any way possible as Zach Rigdon got in started with a hit by pitch. This time Simak did the sacrificing to move him to second before Ridgon advanced to third on a wild pitch. After a strikeout by a pinch hitter, freshman Grayson Downing delivered in a big spot, as a two-out RBI single to left-center plated the tying run to force extra innings.

After a 1-2-3 top of the 10th by MSOE, Brandon Diedrich reached via a hit by pitch, the Stars fourth of the game. Dominican once again successfully executed some small ball as Garrett Wano moved him up a station with a sacrifice bunt. After an intentional walk put the double play in order, freshman Matt Galdi lined one to the second basemen who dropped the ball, flipped it to the shortstop who touched second base but his throw was unable to beat a hustling Galdi who beat out the throw for a walk-off fielder's choice and a 4-3 Stars victory.

Dominican managed just five hits in the contest but did the little things well as it executed four sacrifice bunts while racking up four hit by pitches to grind out the win.

Bryant Bagshaw picked up the quality start as he threw six innings of three-hit ball, allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out five but he would not factor in the decision. Bennett Wogan picked up the win, pitching 1 1/3 innings, retiring all four batters he faced thanks to a pair of strikeouts.

Game two was another close contest, beginning in the bottom of the third inning with Dominican trailing 1-0. Tyler Trojan lead off the inning with a hit-by-pitch before Downing bunted him over to second base. Diedrich came up next and brought him home with an RBI single through the left side to tie the game. Wano followed suit with a single to left field as Diedrich went first to third on the play. The designated hitter, Keegan Brandt stepped into the box next and hit a groundball threw the right side past the outstretched reach of the second basemen to plate another run and put his team ahead 2-1.

After the Raiders knotted things back up in the top of the fifth, Wano walked and stole second with one out. Brandt stepped up once again and singled through the right side for the second straight at-bat to allow Wano to score from second base. With two outs, Brooks broke doubled the margin as he smoked a ball to left field for an RBI double to give the Stars a 4-2 lead after five innings.

MSOE plated two in the top of the seventh due in part to an RBI double down the left-field line and a pair of wild pitches. Dominican answered in the next inning however as Rigdon lead off the frame with an infield single. After Evans sacrificed him to second, Trojan was intentionally walked. After a balk and another intentionally walk, a wild pitch moved everyone up one place to put the Stars back ahead 5-4. With Wano once again up in a timely spot, he doubled to deep left-center, scoring two, to bust the game open 7-4.

Wogan was again called on to shut the door and worked around a one-out walk as a 1-6-3 double play ended the game with a 7-4 Dominican win.

Jeremey Davidson registered another quality start for the Stars, pitching six innings of three-hit ball, allowing one earned run, and fanning four. Tyler Kara earned the win, going two innings of relief before Wogan picked up the save.

"We had excellent starting and relief pitching today with a couple of big hits to break it open in the eighth inning of game two," said Head Coach Steve Hardman.

The bats came alive in game two as Dominican recorded 14 hits as Trojan went 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. Wano delivered the big blow, going 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs. Brandt also had a multi-hit game, 2-for-3, with two RBIs, two walks, and a run scored.

"I was really happy with our fight today," continued Coach Hardman. "It was a back and forth affair and we did not allow ourselves to get down when we didn't get the results we wanted."

The Stars remain home for another crossover division NACC matchup when they host Edgewood on Wednesday, March 24th at 1:00 p.m.