Dominican University's baseball program was swept by Aurora University in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play on Monday evening.
DU dropped a hard-fought opening contest 7-6 in 12 innings before falling 18-7 in the second game to the NACC-leading Spartans.
Game One
Dominican trailed by three runs after one, but clawed back to even the score at 3-all after six. DU and AU scored two runs each in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, sending the contest into extra innings. The two sides traded runs in the 11th before the Spartans scored one in the 12th and made that advantage stick, claiming a 7-6 win.
Joey Haslam (1-2) suffered the loss, allowing two earned runs in 2.0 innings. Tyler Ferraro started and pitched admirably, scattering eight hits in 7.0 innings while striking out four. Grayson Downing led the offensive effort with a 4-for-6 day, adding two runs scored. Brandon Diedrich knocked in three runs on two hits. Matt Galdi, Dominic Desch and Braiden Galvin each accounted for one RBI.
Game Two
Aurora came out hot offensively with 10 runs in the first six innings, but DU answered with three in the bottom of the sixth. Both teams scored several runs as the game progressed, but the Spartans' early advantage held up as DU fell 18-7.
Garrett Wano went 2-for-3 with two RBI to lead Dominican. CJ Kalekas, Diedrich, Downing and Wano each had two hits. Chris Kendziora (1-4) started and took the loss in 4.0 innings, allowing five earned runs.
DU takes on Benedictine on Friday, May 6 at 1 p.m. for a home doubleheader. Live coverage will be available via dustars.com.