CCAC

[Baseball] Bees bust out the brooms against Titans

The St. Ambrose baseball team completed a three-game sweep of the IU-South Bend Titans this weekend at Modern Woodmen Park.After dispatching the Titans 14-8 in Saturday's single game, the Fighting Bees battled out two close wins Sunday afternoon.Friday's game was a back-and-forth afair. The Titans (9-16, 3-6 CCAC) held a 5-4 lead heading into the top of the fifth and added to their lead with a two-run shot to make it a three-run lead. They were looking to add more when Owen Benson sent one deep to center field with two runners on. Kyel Alexander made a fantastic grab at the wall to end the inning and stop the Titans in their tracks.Alexander's spectacular catch shifted the momentum in St. Ambrose's favor, with the Bees tacking on three runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 7-7.After a scoreless sixth inning, Nate Villagomez rocked double to left center to knock in Mike Snow to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh. The Bees added three more off the bats of Bryce Vincent and Cooper Huckabone to put the game out of reach.James Cromier picked up the win in relief, going three innings while scattering three hits and only allowing one run.A pair of great games made up Saturday's doubleheader. Michael Dudek tossed a gem as the starter in game 1, limiting the Titans to one run over 6 2/3 innings while twirling six strikeouts.Vincent punched in the Bees' only two runs of the game, but it was enough to get the win with some stellar pitching on the other side of the ball. After the Titans cut it to a one-run game in the final inning, Nick Hernandez came in for relief and struck out the one batter he faced to seal the game at 2-1.The Fighting Bees had to battle back in the final game of the series. After Adrian Zietara scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first, the Bees fell in a 3-1 hole by the end of the fifth inning.In the bottom of the sixth, Shawn Rigsby got the Bees back on the scoreboard with a sacfrifice fly to score Zietara. Brenden Butler then smacked an RBI-single to left field that tied the game up at 3-all.Zietara gave the Bees the lead in the next inning with an RBI-single to score Snow. St. Ambrose added some insurance with a five-spot eighth inning, highlighted by a Huckabone two-run blast over the wall in left field.Joey Turek closed out the game on the mound, tacking down the 9-3 win with two shutout innings. Hernandez picked up the win in releif.The three-game sweep of the IU-South Bend Titans improves the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees to 16-4 overall and 7-1 in the CCAC. The Bees will continue their conference campaign with a home doubleheader against Olivet Nazarene Tuesday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.