Saint Francis Splits Regular Season Finale with Mount Vernon Nazarene
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
|
Mount Vernon Nazarene (OH) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | X | 4 | 6 | 0 |
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
|
Mount Vernon Nazarene (OH) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio - The University of Saint Francis (Ind). Cougars baseball team wrapped up their regular season against the Mount Vernon Nazarene University Cougars on Friday, April 26. They battled all day and came away with a split, but won the series 3-1.
Lukas North was dominant in his start on the mound. Going 5 innings without giving up a run and 3 punch outs. This game remained tied at 0 through 5 innings. But USF was able to break this scoreless tie in the top of the sixth. This came from a sacrifice fly from Sam Pesa and a Nick Parsons RBI double to make it 2-0. MVNU got one back in the 7th inning, but Xavier Croxton responded with a solo homerun to make it a 3-1 ballgame. Graham Kelham came in for the 9th innings and collected his nation leading 11th save of the year. USF won this one 3-2.
Game two also stayed tied at 0 for the first three innings. In the 4th, Ayden Lichtensteiger and Kolton Cardenas had RBI singles to make it 2-0. Mount Vernon immediately tied it up in the bottom half of the 4th. USF was not able to build innings and cash in runs throughout the rest of this one. MVNU scored a run in the 5th and 6th inning to make it 4-2. The score stayed this way as USF drops the final game of the series. This snapped their 12 game win streak, but they won their fifth series in a row.
There were many key contributors on the day for the Cougars. Croxton had three hits with a homerun and an RBI. North had a great start on the mound. Blaine McRae, Casey Henry, and Graham Kelham were great out of the bullpen. Parsons, Lichtensteiger, and Kolton Cardenas all provided RBIs at the plate.
The Cougars finished the regular season with a record of 34-15 and 24-12 in conference play. This ties their single season win record with 34 in 5 fewer games. They will play in the opening round of the conference tournament at Taylor University on Thursday, May 2. They are the no. 3 seed facing no. 4 seed Huntington University at 6:00 PM est.
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 -
