SCHAUMBURG, Ill. – The Edgewood College baseball team continued their undefeated start to the NACC season with a pair of workmanlike victories over Dominican University. The Eagles rode two outstanding pitching performances from Jeff Wolf and Steve Gavin to 6-3 and 3-0 victories. Edgewood College also ran their current winning streak to five straight games.
In the opening game, Edgewood College (12-4, 4-0 NACC) got all the runs they needed in the second and third innings. Brodie Engel put the Eagles on the board with an RBI single to bring home Garrett Bogucki. After a Jeff Tucker single, Bryan Sternig punched a ball through the left side to drive in two runs and put the Eagles ahead 3-0 after two innings.
In the third, Bogucki singled and Nick Lehner walked with two outs. After a wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet, Tim Nunn delivered a double to right field to give the Eagles a 5-0 advantage.
Meanwhile, Wolf was holding Dominican University (5-10, 0-2 NACC) down on offense. Wolf allowed single runs in the fourth and seventh, and then with the help of Danny Appino, escaped a bases-loaded, no outs jam in the eighth, with only one run scored. Bogucki gave the Eagles an insurance run with an RBI single in the ninth, before Danny Appino came in to earn a five-out save with a perfect inning.
Wolf finished with three earned allowed on eight hits, letting his defense do the work with 14 fly ball outs. He improved to 2-0 on the season. Offensively, Bogucki had a season-high three hits including a double. Sternig added two hits and a pair of runs batted in. Lehner, Engel and Jonathan Roehler also had two hits apiece.
The second game was dominated by Steve Gavin's pitching performance. The junior from Reedsburg allowed a hit in the third and another in the fourth, before retiring 14 straight batters from the fourth to the eighth inning. Gavin gave up a leadoff single and an Eagle fielding error in the ninth, but shook it off to retire the final three batters of the game. No Dominican player reached third base, as Gavin struck out seven and walked just one in his first career shutout victory.
Edgewood College scored two in the second inning, the first on an RBI single by Nunn and the second when Nunn scored following a Dominican fielding error on Nik Visone's bunt attempt. Bogucki gave Gavin a little extra breathing room with a solo home run to lead off the top of the ninth inning, his first home run of the season.
Bogucki and Lehner each had two hits, with Bogucki accounting for a double and a home run and Lehner a double and a single.
Edgewood College will rest through the week to prepare for another NACC weekend. The Eagles host Benedictine University on Saturday afternoon at Stampfl Field, and then travel south for a showdown with preseason favorite Concordia University Chicago on Sunday.