By Jami Sponaugle

Chicago, Ill. - Sunday and Monday were full of baseball for those at Ed Glancy field as the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks baseball team took on the Lakeland University Muskies and the Aurora University Spartans for Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) double-header action. 

Sunday's games were against the Muskies (0-13, 0-4), which saw the Hawks secure two victories. In game one, the Hawks secured a 12-12 victory, while in game two the Hawks offensively dominated and won 17-1 in 7 innings. 

Monday's contests went in favor of the visitors as the conference undefeated Spartans (14-2, 4-0) defeated the Hawks in both games. The Hawks came just short of a comeback in game one as they fell 13-11. The Hawks dropped game two 10-6. 

After the four games, the Hawks record sits at 9-10 overall, 2-2 in conference. 

Sunday: Game One - Illinois Tech 14 - Lakeland 12

Game Two - Illinois Tech 17 - Lakeland 1 

In the first two conference games of the season, the Hawks picked up two victories. 

After Lakeland led for much of the game, the Hawks put up a 6 run inning in the top of the 7th after Matthew Jackson homered for 3 RBI's, Peyton Vieluf doubled to bring in a run, and Michael Jaxson homered for 2 RBI's. From there, the Muskies would take back the lead in the 7th before the Hawks hit back-to-back homeruns by Brandon Bennitt and Jackson to take a 12-11 lead. Lakeland would once again tie the game before the Hawks secured the win in the top of the 9th with a Ivan Tejeda double for 2 RBI's.

The Hawks were an offensive powerhouse in game two, putting up 17 runs. On the mound, Austin Richardson pitched 6 innings and allowed just 1 hit and 3 walks while striking out 11 of the 21 batters he faced.

Monday: Game One - Aurora 13 - Illinois Tech 11

Game Two - Aurora 10 - Illinois Tech 6

The Spartans came out hot against the Hawks in game one, putting up 6 runs in the first inning to take the early lead. Illinois Tech fought their way back in the bottom of the third, putting up a 7 run inning to take the lead. The Hawks lead only lasted briefly though as the Spartans turned around in the 4th to add 5 runs to their total. The Hawks attempted to comeback for the remainder of the game, but came up short. 

Game two remained close until the 5th inning when the inning ended with the Spartans leading the Hawks 9-4. The Hawks added 1 run in both the 6th and 7th inning to come within 4 runs, but were unable to make up any more ground, eventually falling to the Spartans. 

Combined Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Peyton Vieluf had a .818 AVG, 11 at-bats, 5 runs, 9 hits, 2 doubles, 3 RBI's, a 1.000 SLG%, and a .750 OB%

• Michael Paxson had a .813 AVG, 16 at-bats, 6 runs, 13 hits, 3 doubles, 2 homeruns, 9 RBI's, a 1.375 SLG%, and a .789 OB%.

• Matthew Jackson had a .400 AVG, 15 at-bats, 7 runs, 6 hits, 3 homeruns, 9 RBI's, a 1.000 SLG%, and a .500 OB%

• Austin Richardson recorded the win in game two against Lakeland after pitching 6 innings, faced 21 batters, allowed just 1 hit and 3 walks, and threw 11 strikeouts. 

• Alejandro Garcia appeared once for 4.1 innings, faced 17 batters, allowed just 3 hits and 1 run, and threw 4 strikeouts. 

Head Coach Ed Zeifert's Comments

About Sunday: "So much went into making [Sunday] happen. I want to thank Usha Gilmore, my assistants Ryan Cantlin and Brady Roberts and all of our support personnel for today.

On top of that we were able to play some pretty exciting baseball. We have been fielding at a high level all year and when we consistently put together at-bats and innings on the mound, we are a pretty good team."

About Monday: "Today was fun. We were on the wrong side of the score twice bit we did some things we should be proud of. We have guys stepping up [and] we have a ton of growth going on. I am so proud of this ground, of this family, and of our entire program.

I am looking forward to Saturday and I hope our fans are too. Let's go!"

Up Next

The Hawks are off until Saturday when they return back to Ed Glancy Field for another NACC double-header. They will take on the Benedictine University Eagles at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.