Schaumburg, IL – The Dominican University baseball team played a pair of games against Edgewood College on Wednesday afternoon, winning game one 11-1 before falling in the nightcap 12-10.
After Edgewood took a 1-0 lead in the opening frame, Dominican responded in the bottom of the second as a one-out double down the right-field line by Payton Brooks put a runner in scoring position. After a hit by pitch and a strikeout, Kevin Evans delivered with a two-out single through the left side to knot the game at 1-1.
The Stars took the lead in the fourth as they began the inning with three straight singles from Camron Stafford, Ryan Simak, and Evans. Tyler Trojan plated Evans with a sacrifice fly to centerfield but the Eagles avoided further damage as they headed to the fifth trailing by just one.
Dominican broke the game open in the seventh as a one-out single to right by Garrett Wano brought Grayson Downing across the plate. After a wild pitch made it 4-1, Stafford shot a ball through the left side of the infield to tack on two more runs as the Stars held a 6-1 advantage after seven innings.
The Stars ended the game in the eighth as Simak reached on a hit by pitch before Evans got on via an error as both runners came around to score to make it 8-1. Wano added another RBI single to left before Bryant Bagshaw ended the game with a pinch-hit two-RBI double to left field to invoke the 10-run rule at 11-1.
Hayden Young earned his first win of the season, going the distance, as he threw eight innings while scattering seven hits and fanning seven batters.
The Stars recorded 12 hits in game one with Brandon Diedrich, Wano, Stafford, and Evans each having multi-hit games.
"I am very pleased with the way we came out and played in game one," said Head Coach
Steve Hardman. "It was very close to a complete game. Hayden (Young) pitched great and really set the tone."
Edgewood would again play from ahead in game two as they put up a three-spot in the top of the first inning due in part to a two-run HR. Dominican wasted little time responding however as a Diedrich RBI single-plated the first run of the inning before Diedrich and Wano were brought all the way around by a Keegan Brandt double to tie the score at 3-3. An infield single and sacrifice fly gave the Stars a 5-3 lead after one inning of play.
The Eagles answered in the top of the second with three more runs, all with two outs.
In the top of the 5th inning, Edgewood capitalized on a pair of Dominican errors to add five more runs to its cushion and head to the bottom of the fifth up 11-5.
After a Brooks leadoff walk in the bottom of the frame, Stafford placed one down the right-field line to bring him home before coming around himself on a bases-loaded wild pitch. Downing added an RBI groundout to make it 11-8 before the game paused for a rain delay.
Out of the delay, the teams played a scoreless sixth inning before Edgewood tacked on another insurance run in the top of the 7th. Wano stepped to the plate in the bottom of the inning with two outs and the bases loaded and delivered with a two-RBI single to right-center to cut the deficit in half at 12-10.
The Stars held the Eagles off the board for the next two innings to set up the bottom of the ninth. Trojan started the inning with a single to left field. With runners on first and second with two outs, Brandt loaded the bases with a hit by a pitch but the next batter struck out looking to end the game and Dominican's comeback attempt.
"Game two was disappointing because we let them off the ropes from game one," continued Coach Hardman. "We gave them too many freebies and extra outs in several innings. You will not win many games doing that."
Dominican recorded 16 hits in game two, paced by Trojan's four as he went 4-for-6 with a run scored. Wano had a 3-for-6 game two with two RBIs while Stafford and Evans each added two more hits to their day.
The Stars hit the road on Saturday, March 27th when they head to Wisconsin Lutheran for a noon doubleheader.
