Benedictine Rallies to Wild Victory

The Benedictine University baseball team opened the second day of the NACC Tournament with a wild comeback that set the tone for a crazy day, tallying a 10-7 victory over second-seeded Aurora to remain in the winner's bracket.

Ryan Doubek hit a grand slam in the top of the ninth to complete a rally from down 7-3 and tally their 30th win of the season. DeShawnte Carraway doubled in the top of the first to open the scoring in the contest between the two nationally ranked foes. Aurora instantly responded with a two-run double to lead 2-1 in the bottom of the inning. Trailing 3-1, Kevin Bushnell tied the game in the fourth by smacking a two-run double but Aurora answered again with four in the bottom of the frame to chase the Benedictine starter and take the lead.

The rally commenced in the seventh inning. David Rubin doubled home a pair with two outs to bring Benedictine within 7-5. Anthony Lenza poked an RBI single to bring Benedictine within 7-6. The first three reached in the top of the ninth to set the stage for Doubek, who throttled his first homer of the year and electrified Lisle, sending an echo throughout campus and the nearby community.

Nick Shelton entered the game in the fifth inning and worked 4.1 innings to grab the win. Austin Pizer worked the final inning to tally the save. Benedictine banged out 17 hits in the win. Bushnell finished 4-for-5 in the contest with Lenza tallying three. Seven of the 17 hits were for extra bases.

Benedictine (30-11) is 3-0 against Aurora this year.