CCAC

[Baseball] Dominant pitching leads Bees to three-game sweep of CCSJ

Some fantastic pitching from the arms of the Fighting Bees helped lead St. Ambrose to a dominant three-game sweep of Calumet St. Joseph this weekend.On Friday, St. Ambrose hosted Calumet St. Joseph at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, Iowa for one nine-inning game. Friday afternoon's game was a pitching duel from start to finish, with both pitchers pitching the entire game for their respective clubs.The Crimson Wave struck first, scratching one run across in the second inning to get an early 1-0 lead. However, this would be the last run that the Bees would allow. In the bottom of the fourth, Cole Aughenbaugh knocked in Liam Dennehy on an RBI single up the middle to get the Bees on the board and tie the game. The Bees then had a big rally inning in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by a two-RBI single to left from Gabriel Panza that scored Max Rumpf and Mike Coughlin to give the Bees the lead.St. Ambrose would shut down Calumet for the remainder of the game to pick up the Friday win 6-1. The Fighting Bees were flying around the bases, blitzing to eight stolen bases throughout the game. Tyreece Morgan and Dennehy both tallied three steals each.Michael Dudek pitched an absolute gem for the Bees. Dudek went the distance, not allowing a single earned run on five hits and striking out 11.On Saturday, St. Ambrose traveled to Indiana to take on the Crimson Wave in a doubleheader matchup.Game 1 was all St. Ambrose, with the Fighting Bees cruising to an 11-0 victory. The Bees scored runs in six of the seven innings played.Adam Gaydos, a speedster that typically shines as a pinch runner, came in for a pinch-hit apperance in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded. Gaydos stepped up and rocked a ball over the fence for a huge grand slam, his first home run of the season. Brenden Alsup also hit his first dinger of the year with a two-run shot to left field. Cooper Huckabone roped in two RBI's and scored two runs of his own in the game 1 victory.Conor OHara pitched another great game for the Fighting Bees, throwing a complete-game shutout in game 1. OHara only surrendered four hits and struck out nine.In the final game of the weekend, St. Ambrose found themselves in a hole early. With the Crimson Wave leading 3-0 heading into the fourth inning, the Fighting Bees rallied to score a run in five of the last six innings to win 5-4 and complete the sweep.Aughenbaugh had a great game at the plate, going 3-for-4 and launching a home run, his fifth of the season. Morgan stole another two bases, improving to a perfect 6-for-6 on steals this season.James Cormier got the start for St. Ambrose, pitching three complete innings and striking out two batters. Nick Hernandez picked up the win in relief, pitching the final six innings. Hernandez didn't give up a single earned run, only allowed two hits and struck out six of the batters he faced.The Fighting Bees are on an absolute tear, having just collected their eighth consecutive win and completing the three-game sweep of Calumet St. Joseph. St. Ambrose improves to 14-13 overall and 10-1 in conference play, establishing themselves as the team to beat in the CCAC.St. Ambrose will take the diamond on April 6 in a nine-inning matchup with Mount Mercy at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, Iowa.