The Cardinal Newman Cardinals saw their lead shrink to one run in the bottom of the seventh but were able to hang on to win 5-4 over the Ben Lippen Falcons Tuesday, March 28.
“We are a young team. We are figuring out some growing pains,” Cardinal Newman head coach Charles Assey said.
The Cardinals grabbed the momentum in the top of the second. Harry Weaver was hit by a pitch. He later stole second, got to third on a passed ball, and scored on a wild pitch to give Cardinal Newman a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third, the Cardinals’ Connor Hooks drew a two out walk. He later scored on a wild throw. The next batter, Weaver, reached on an error and later scored on a wild pitch as the Cardinals led 3-0.
Ben Lippen responded in the bottom of the third beginning with a leadoff walk by McElveen. Later in the inning, Jack Lutheran smashed a single up the middle, scoring McElveen and shrinking the deficit to 3-1.
In the top of the fourth, Walker Bailey led off with a single. He later scored on a wild pitch to push the Cardinal Newman lead back to three.
Ben Lippen answered in the bottom of the inning. Coleman Davis was hit by a pitch to get one Falcon on with one out. An RBI single by McElveen scored Davis, trimming the deficit to 4-2. After Tristan Neely came on in relief, Treiber singled, scoring McElveen, and shrinking the deficit to 4-3.
Busenlehner drew a leadoff walk for Cardinal Newman in the fifth. Two batters later, Hooks singled, scoring courtesy runner
Sam Appleton and extending the Cardinals lead to 5-3.
Ben Lippen would not go away. In the bottom of the seventh, Morris led off with a single. He later scored on an error to shrink the deficit to 5-4. Two batters later, Davis reached on an error and McElveen was hit by a pitch. However, Cardinal Newman pitcher Josh Jenkins forced Mason O’Cain to hit into a fielder’s choice to end the game.
Neely picked up the win for Cardinal Newman. He went 2-and-2/3 innings giving up three hits and striking out six. He also went 2-for-3 at the plate. Britt pitched 3-and-1/3 giving up three runs and four hits. He struck out three. Hooks led the Cardinals at the plate going 2- for-3 with an RBI.
Connor threw four innings for Ben Lippen giving up four runs and two hits. He struck out eight. Lutheran threw three innings giving up one run and four hits. He struck out one. He also went 1-for-4 at the plate with an RBI.
McElveen led the Falcons at the plate going 2-for-2 with an RBI. Treiber went 1-for-3 with an RBI
With the win, Cardinal Newman improves to 5-6 overall and 2-3 in SCISA Region 1-4A.
Ben Lippen falls to 5-5 overall and 0-5 in the region.
“It’s big for us,” Assey said. “ We got swept by Augusta Christian and split with Hammond, which was big too. If we want to make a run at this thing, then we need to go home Friday and sweep this series and get back to 3-3 in the region. There is still a chance to get No. 2 or 3 in the region depending on how things shake out. Getting this one over here is big.”
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