VERONA, Wis. – The Edgewood College baseball team plays like a pebble in your shoe. They won't often destroy you with one decisive blow, but over time they will grind away and wear you down. Edgewood College had 19 hits, all singles, and received two outstanding pitching performances in a sweep of Dominican University at windy Stampfl Field on Wednesday. The Eagles moved into third place in the NACC with 5-3 and 6-2 victories.

In the opening game, Eagle starter Taylor Hillmann avoided the big innings and kept the Stars off balance. After a solo home run from Dominican's Cody Schuster put the Stars ahead 1-0, Edgewood College (10-17, 6-4 NACC) answered with three in the bottom of the second. With bases loaded and two outs, Andrew Lauritzen lofted a short fly ball into the swirling wind in center field. The ball fell in the middle of three Stars fielders who couldn't get there in time. All three runners scored for a 3-1 Eagles lead.

In the sixth inning, Danny Appino drove in Zack Creekmore on a sacrifice fly and Lauritzen delivered another RBI single for a 5-2 Eagles lead. The situation got serious in the ninth when Dominican opened the inning with back-to-back singles to chase Hillmann from the game. Bryce Ziegler entered and got two outs despite an RBI single by Quentin Becquey that cut the Eagles' lead to 5-3. Appino then came ot the mound and struck out Quinlan Milne-Rojek on three pitches for his first career save.

Lauritzen went 2-for-5 with four runs batted in and a stolen base. Creekmore was 2-for-4. Marc Ostrowski scored three runs after drawing three bases of balls. Hillmann surrendered just two earned runs and struck out four in eight innings pitched.

Dominican University (17-11, 6-6 NACC) again posted the first run of the game in the nightcap going ahead 1-0 when the Eagles attempt to turn a double play was thrown away in the second inning. Edgewood College evened the game on an Alex Jaskulski RBI single in the third to score Lauritzen. Dominican went ahead 2-1 in the top of the fifth, but the Eagles' running game opened the door in the bottom of the fifth inning.

After Kody Parman reached on an error and advanced to third, Sean Thompson drove him home with a single up the middle. Creekmore added an RBI single of his own to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead. On the next at bat Creekmore stole second, but the throw went through to centerfield. As Creekmore ran to third, the Stars' centerfielder overran the ball allowing Creekmore to score all the way from first base.

Meanwhile, Andy Swanson was mowing down Dominican hitters. Swanson struck out the side in the top of the first inning, on his way to matching his career-high with seven strikeouts. He allowed two earned runs and walked just one in a 110 pitch complete game. Jaskulski provided insurance runs with a two-run single in the eighth, but Swanson worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to finish the game anyway.

Jaskulski and Lauritzen each went 3-for-5 with Jaskulski driving in three runs. Laurtizen's effort marked the sixth straight game he has had two or more hits. He has gone 18-for-30 over his last six games, raising his season batting average from .310 to .396. He also stole his 16th base of the season, tying him for second in the NACC.

Edgewood College will host a single game against Maranatha Baptist tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. before a pair of important Easter weekend doubleheaders. The Eagles will travel to second place Benedictine University on Saturday before hosting Wisconsin Lutheran College on Monday.