BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – A big inning in each game provided the spark for the Olivet Nazarene University baseball team to complete a conference doubleheader sweep of Trinity Christian Tuesday afternoon at Watson Field.

The Tigers rallied late in putting together a six-spot to secure an 8-6 win in the opener before tacking on a seven-run inning en route to a 17-7 victory in the nightcap.

Trinity Christian (5-14, 1-9 CCAC) scored two runs in each of the second, third, and fourth innings to take a sizable 6-2 lead before the Tigers rallied for the big inning.

After the first three batters in the bottom of the fourth quickly loaded the bases, Takumi Kimoto kickstarted the rally with a bases-clearing three-RBI double down the left field line to make it a one run game. Aden Aukland evened the score with an RBI groundout before Evan Pogioli skied a sacrifice fly to take the lead. Vince Martinez capped the big inning with an RBI double to give ONU an 8-6 advantage.

And that is where the score would hold as the pitching duo of Luke Shoven and Michael Freitas shut down the TCC bats for the remainder of the game. Shoven went 4.1 innings as the starter before passing the ball to Freitas who pitched 2.1 shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out five. Shoven and Freitas picked up their second win and save of the year, respectively.

The Trolls raced out to another large lead in the nightcap, quickly building a 5-1 lead after the top of the second. But once again the Tigers had the answer, scratching across seven runs in their half of the second inning to run away for the win.

Sam Reczek started the scoring when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in a run. TCC nearly escaped the jam with back-to-back strikeouts, but Andy Onnen kept the inning alive with a two-RBI single to right field. The Tigers capitalized off a Troll error with a run before Pogioli put an emphatic stamp on the inning with a three-run homer to make it 8-5 ONU.

TCC plated two runs in the fourth to get to within one run, but the Tigers would close out the game with nine unanswered tallies to end the game early.

Dupuis, the defending CCAC Player of the Week, had a big game in the finale, going 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Alex Seaton went 4-for-5 at the plate, as well. Qade Carrington picked up the win in relief.

The Tigers, now 10-11 overall and 6-4 in league play, will take on defending conference champions St. Francis (Ill.) in a four-game set this weekend.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu