Benedictine Splits on a Wild Day at Aurora

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CAROL STREAM, IL - The Benedictine University baseball team was able to split a pair of key conference games at Aurora on Monday.

FINAL SCORES
Benedictine 17, Aurora 4 (Seven Innings) - Game One
Aurora 8, Benedictine 6 - Game Two

BENEDICTINE 17, AURORA 4
Benedictine wasted no time in establishing control in the opener, scoring five runs in the top of the first
Jack Feeley led off the game with a single and Logan Shepard followed with a double
Jimmy McLaughlin doubled home both runners to open the scoring
Damen Castillo pushed the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single
The first five batters of the game all notched hits
Chase Patterson and Kyle Mitter tacked on RBI singles in the inning as nine came to the plate
Castillo logged an RBI single in the second to make the score 6-0
The early onslaught progressed with three runs in the second inning on a single from Patterson and a two-run single from Shepard as Benedictine led 9-0
Following a pitching change in the fourth, Benedictine really put the game out of reach with seven runs
Castillo opened the inning with a solo homer against the third pitcher of the early portion of the game
Patterson produced another RBI single and Shepard coaxed a bases loaded walk
McLaughlin broke the game open with an inside-the-park grand slam to deep center
Ryan Miller was the beneficiary of the run support but did allow four runs in the fourth

GAME ONE LEADERS
Miller threw six innings to collect the win, allowing four runs, while Cameron Paladines tossed the seventh to finish the game
Benedictine banged out 23 hits in the win, a season high
Castillo finished 5-for-5 with three RBIs
Feeley notched four hits out of the leadoff spot, scoring four times
Everyone in the lineup picked up a hit while seven totaled more than one
McLaughlin drove home seven runs

AURORA 8, BENEDICTINE 6
Feeley led off the second game with an inside-the-park homer, handing Benedictine the early advantage
Aurora responded in the bottom of the inning with four runs against starter Stephen Sewruk to take the lead
Benedictine rallied with two runs in the second on a two-run single from Feeley, drawing within 4-3
Down 5-3, McLaughlin opened the third with a triple and came in to score on a double play
Benedictine rallied to lead briefly behind two runs in the top of the sixth
Nicholas Quick and Tyler Woynerowski both singled with two outs
A rule-book double from Patterson tallied one run and nearly gave Benedictine the lead, but the lead runner was sent back to third
The go-ahead run eventually scored after a pitching change on a wild pitch
Aurora scored three times in the bottom of the inning to grab the lead and Benedictine stranded the tying runs on base in the ninth

GAME TWO LEADERS
Sewruk worked just 1.1 innings and Ryan Litavecz followed with 4.1 but took the loss
Ty Liaromatis and Marty Maves finished the game
Benedictine banged out 10 hits in the second game with Feeley posting three more and driving home three
Woynerowski and Patterson both notched a pair of hits

NOTES
Feeley extended his hitting streak to 17 games and his on-base streak to 18
Feeley is now hitting .361 on the year and leads the conference with six triples
The games were played at the home field of Wheaton College, Lee Pfund Stadium a turf field that is serving as Aurora's home this year
Aurora has been receiving votes in the Top-25 all year and had won four straight against Benedictine before the opener dating to the 2017 conference tournament
Benedictine saw a season high eight-game win streak come to a close in the second contest
The win streak was the longest during the tenure of Adam Smith and is the longest since an 11-game streak in 2004

UP NEXT
Benedictine (18-10, 10-4 NACC) travels to MSOE on Thursday afternoon as part of a busy week