Walk-Off Win Advances Cougars Past Foresters
| Final (11) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Huntington (IN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 |
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 2 |
UPLAND, Ind. - The University of Saint Francis (Ind). baseball team opened the Crossroads League Tournament as the no. 3 seed going up against the no. 4 seeded Huntington University Foresters. After a back and forth 11-inning game, the Cougars walked it off to take Thursday's game by a final score of 7-6 and set the school record in wins.
Saint Francis came out hot in this one with a leadoff homerun from Jayden Lepper to take an early 1-0 lead. Huntington responded in the top of the second with a homerun of their own to make it 1-1. In the third USF tacked on two from a Lepper single and Sam Pesa ground out to make it 3-1. The game remained this way until the 8th inning when HU took the lead on a 3-run homerun to make it 4-3. Saint Francis was not done, as Nick Parsons responded with a 3-run homerun of his own to put the Cougs up 6-4 in the bottom of the 8th. Huntington managed to tie it in the 9th to force extra innings. After a scoreless 10th frame, USF walked it off with a bases loaded walk from Pesa to put the Cougs on top 7-6.
There were a number of key contributors on the day for the Cougars. Deron Swanson pitched well as the starter, going 6 innings only and allowing one run with three strikeouts. Lepper was 4-6 in the game with two RBIs and a homerun. Parsons had a huge 3-run shot to help lead the Cougars to victory. Pesa was 1-3 with two walks and the final one to win this one.
The victory gave the Cougars their 35th win of the season, which is the highest number of wins in program history. USF advances to play no. 2 Indiana Wesleyan University in the Crossroads League Tournament on Friday, May 3 at 6:00 pm. The Cougars and Wildcats previously split in the regular season.
Cougar fans stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.
- Sam Pesa -
