GRANGER, Ind. – IU South Bend kept their postseason hopes alive on Friday afternoon, after opening a three-game series with the visiting Lincoln Lynx and taking a 12-7 win at Rex Weade Stadium.
The win means the Titans’ destiny is in their own hands, as IUSB can secure a spot in the CCAC Tournament by winning out over the final three games of the regular season this weekend.
The visiting Lynx (1-36, 1-27 CCAC) struck first with an early run in the top of the 1st, followed by two more in the 2nd inning to build a 3-0 lead. The Titans (13-29-1, 7-19-1 CCAC) claimed their first lead of the day by going off for six runs on four hits in the bottom of the 2nd, highlighted by an RBI double from Jake Vanderwoude, and a two-RBI base hit from Evan Allen.
IU South Bend extended their lead with a run in the 3rd, after Kole Miller led off by reaching on a hit by pitch, and courtesy runner Nick Banks coming home on Nolan Unger’s RBI single. The Titans extended their lead further, after Lincoln posted another run on the board in the 4th, by scoring three more in the bottom of the 5th, with an RBI single from Brenden Bell, and run-scoring groundouts by Allen and Brett Sikorski.
Lincoln cut the lead to three, with three more runs during the top of the 7th. Miller’s RBI double in the bottom of the 8th, along with a run scored by Banks on a wild pitch kept the Titans out in front to secure the win down the stretch.
Max Govert earned his first win of the season, pitching 2.1 shutout innings and working around three hits while striking out two. Allen led the offense with three RBI as Unger, Sikorski, and Miller all recorded two hits in the win.
The Titans will look to close out the series with a sweep on Saturday afternoon, as they face Lincoln in a doubleheader at The Rex beginning at 2:00 p.m.