HAMMOND, Ind. – The Purdue University Northwest baseball team picked up a pair of key victories over Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent St. Francis (Ill.) Friday afternoon.
The Pride (28-16, 19-7 CCAC) picked up a 3-2 victory in the opening game thanks to Tyler Crussen (Wheeler, Ind./Wheeler) who crushed a ball in the right center gap to give the Pride the victory.
In Game 2, Josh Arnold (Lowell, Ind./Lowell) shutdown the Fighting Saints (29-23, 14-12 CCAC) with a complete game shutout, blanking USF, 2-0.
PNW has one more game left in the regular season, with one nine-inning game against USF in Joliet, Ill on Sunday, April 30, starting at 1 p.m. (CT).
GAME 1: PNW 3, USF 2
St. Francis would strike first in the third inning to go up 1-0, but the Pride would even the score in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI-single by Luke Schmidt (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South).
After the Fighting Saints took a 2-1 advantage heading in to the seventh inning, the Pride continued to fight with just two outs to go.
Schmidt would start off the inning with a single, followed by a pinch-hit walk by Tyler Kenjic (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) which set the table for Crussen who ended the game on a frozen rope to the right center gap to seal the victory.
Senior Matt Sandoval (Highland, Ind./Bishop Noll) got the no-decision after pitching 5.2 innings and allowing two runs on five hits while striking out seven.
Brody Kutch (La Porte, Ind./La Porte) continued his dominance in the bullpen, allowing just one hit in 1.1 innings of relief while earning his third win of the season.
GAME 2: PNW 2, USF 0
The game was scoreless til the bottom of the fifth inning, when Crussen continued his dominance at the plate with a sacrifice fly which plated Alex Batistatos (Hobart, Ind./Hobart).
PNW would score what would be the final run of the game thanks to an RBI-single to left field that brought in Jake Lindeman (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point).
Arnold was dominant all game long, allowing just four hits in nine innings of work while striking out three.