SCHAUMBURG, Ill. – What a difference a day can make. Just one day after giving up 28 runs in a doubleheader to Concordia University Chicago, the Edgewood College pitching staff turned in a lights out performance at Dominican University. Nate Averill allowed three hits over eight innings in a 3-2 Eagle victory to open the day, and then Steve Gavin threw a complete game four-hitter in an 11-1 victory in the closer.
Averill was just what the doctor ordered after a disappointing Saturday at Stampfl Field. He limited the Stars to a hit in the third and two more in the fifth, but that was all the offense Dominican University (10-14, 7-5 NACC) could muster. The Stars scored an unearned run in the third and tied the game with a run in the fifth.
Nick Lehner put Edgewood College (9-13, 6-4 NACC) ahead 2-0 with a two-run single down the left field line which scored Garret Bogucki and Brad Clark. The Eagles wouldn't score again until the ninth inning.
In the ninth, Clark led off with a single and then stole second base. Lehner laid down a great bunt and beat it to first to put runners at the corners with no outs. From that point, Edgewood College head coach Al Brisack dialed up a double steal which Lehner and Clark executed perfectly to plate the winning run. AJ Verhage relieved Averill and worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his league leading fourth save of the season.
Lehner and Clark did most of the damage for the Eagles. Lehner was 2-for-4 with two runs batted in, while Clark went 2-for-3 and stole three bases.
In game two, the Eagles got all the offense they needed in the first inning when Zack Creekmore doubled home Danny Appino and then Clark scored two more with a single up the middle. Creekmore drove in two more runs in the second with an RBI single and Bogucki pushed across Andrew Lauritzen with a run-scoring single of his own for a 6-0 Eagles lead.
Gavin hardly needed the help. He gave up a run on two hits in the fourth, but allowed just two more hits the rest of the way in a 106-pitch complete game. Gavin induced 17 fly ball outs and seven ground outs, needing just one strikeout.
Creekmore finished the game 4-for-5 with a double and four runs batted in to push his season total to 29 RBIs. Lehner was 3-for-5 at the plate with a double, while Appino and Peter Hefty also had two hits apiece.
Edgewood College will host four games this week, beginning with a non-conference doubleheader against Maranatha Baptist University on Thursday at Stampfl Field. The Eagles then turn to a big showdown with NACC co-leader Benedictine University in another doubleheader on Saturday.
