After dropping the first three games of their series over the weekend, Baseball salvaged the final game of the series against St. Ambrose University on Sunday afternoon on Laughlin Field at Olsen Stadium.
Benedictine (10-5) rallied behind the complete-game effort on the hill in the series finale from Matthew Gephardt with a walk=off single off the bat of Michael Slaten to earn a 7-6 win.
On Saturday, the Ravens had their nine-game home winning streak snapped by St. Ambrose who took the first two games of the series, 13-5 and 6-2. Sunday, the teams split after St. Ambrose won a wild game three of the series 14-13 that was followed by the walk-off win by Benedictine.
Game 1 - St. Ambrose 13, Benedictine 5.
After scoring four runs in their first at-bat of the game, the Ravens were held in check offensively as the Fighting Bees opened the series with an eight-run win.
Michael Kruse suffered the loss on the hill for the Ravens and he was limited to three and two-thirds innings. He gave up eight runs off 10 hits with two strikeouts before Trip Wright, Isaac Rudolph and Tate Garcia threw the final four innings.
At the plate, the Ravens struck out 10 times as they were held to eight hits. Drew Piontek had one of the Ravens two extra-base hits as he finished with a home run and two RBI. Austin Watamaniuk added a double to round out the Ravens efforts at the plate.
Game 2 - St. Ambrose 6, Benedictine 2.
Once again, the Ravens scored in their first at-bat only to be held scoreless for the remaining seven innings. St. Ambrose starting pitcher Colton Carr earned a complete-game win over the Ravens as he tallied 10 strikeouts.
Jacob Slaten threw three and two-thirds innings to suffer the loss. He gave up six runs off seven hits before Ryan Cox, Ben Costello and John Weber finished off the game.
Piontek, Michael Slaten, and Danny Favazza each recorded a double at the plate with Michael Slaten and Jordan Williams recording an RBI each.
Game 3 - St. Ambrose 14, Benedictine 13.
Benedictine took an 8-6 lead into the seventh inning over the Fighting Bees and looked to be in position to earn their first win of the series only to commit six errors defensively in the top of the seventh. Even after giving up the lead and trailing 14-8 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Ravens rallied to score five and left the game-tieing run 90 feet away as the game ended.
Mark Hartley earned the start for the Ravens on the hill. He earned a no-decision after throwing the first four and one-third innings. He gave up three earned runs off five hits. Ben Hankammer suffered the loss in relief as he was credited with two unearned runs that gave the Fighting Bees the lead.
Benedictine scored their 13 runs off 13 hits. Piontek finished the game with a double, triple and three RBI. Michael Slaten added two home runs and four RBI while Peter Dufau recorded his first career home run for the Ravens. Favazza added his second double of the series while recording an RBI.
Game 4 - Benedictine 7, St. Ambrose 6 (8 innings)
Benedictine answered a three-run fourth by St. Ambrose with a three-run fifth inning to take a 6-3 lead over the Fighting Bees. St. Ambrose rallied with three runs in the seventh to force the Ravens to bat in their half of the inning.
With one out in the seventh, the Ravens loaded the bases after a Michael Slaten double, an intentional walk of Piontek and Favazza getting hit by the pitch of St. Ambrose reliever Collin Rogiers. In the next at-bat, Jackson Doherty appeared to beat out a potential inning-ending double play that would have secured the win, but he was ruled out by the base umpire.
In the top of the eighth, the Fighting Bees went down in order, setting up a second chance for the Ravens to walk-off a win.
Nick Hernandez entered as the second reliever for St. Ambrose to start the eighth and started off strong, getting Dufau and Brandon Van Becelare out to start the inning. From there, things went downhill quickly for Hernandez. After hitting Jacob Slaten and Brandon Barringer, he walked Watamaniuk to bring Michael Slaten to the plate. Slaten singled under the diving globe of St. Ambrose right fielder Cole Aughenbaugh to end the game and allow the Ravens to salvage the final game of the series.
Gephardt finished with nine strikeouts over eight innings, giving up three earned runs off eight hits.
Michael Slaten went 3 for 5 with two RBI as he added a solo home run to his walk-off single. Favazza went 2 for 3 with a triple and double while Jacob Slaten also went 2 for 3 with a double.
The Ravens are scheduled to host University of St. Mary at 2 p.m. Tuesday but the weather could force a cancelation of that game. The Ravens are scheduled to open Heart play on Saturday and Sunday with a pair of cross-divisional doubleheaders. Benedictine hosts Clarke University at Noon on Saturday and Culver-Stockton College at Noon on Sunday.
