Joliet, Ill. – Freshman pitcher Heath Mann (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) came up big for the No. 3 seeded Saint Xavier University baseball team (30-25/17-10 CCAC) Monday afternoon, winning both games in relief for the Cougars in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Tournament at Duly Health and Care Field in Joliet, Ill. Mann (3-1) worked 3.2 innings out of the bullpen with three strikeouts and didn't allow a baserunner in a 7-4 victory over No. 7 Roosevelt University to propel SXU into the CCAC Tournament Championship. He duplicated that effort in game one of the championship, tossing 3.2 innings with five strikeouts and no baserunners to force the if-necessary game on Tuesday evening. The winner of tomorrow's game earns an automatic berth into the NAIA Opening Round. It's the fifth time in program history that Saint Xavier has appeared in the CCAC Tournament Championship, winning in 2016 and finishing as runner-up in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
Game One:

• Senior designated hitter Sam Ryan (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Conant) went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
• Senior infielder Declan Smyth (Evergreen Park, Ill./North Central/Evergreen Park) was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a double and an RBI.
• Senior infielder Darren Zarrillo (Grapevine, Texas/Frank Phillips/Grapevine) collected two hits in three at-bats with a double, an RBI and a run.
• Sophomore pitcher Noah Scott (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) made the start and threw 2.1 innings with five hits, four runs (three earned), two walks and a strikeout.
• Junior pitcher Tzu-Chun Yen (Kaohsiung, Taiwan/Ohlone/Meiho) logged 3.0 innings of relief and allowed just one hit with three strikeouts.
• Smyth sparked a two-out rally in the top of the 1^st with an RBI double. Zarrillo followed with an RBI double, and Ryan sliced an RBI single to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead.
• The Lakers got a run back in the bottom half of the inning after an SXU error allowed a run to score.
• RU added a run in the bottom of the 2^nd on a wild pitch. They would take the lead in the bottom of the 3^rd on a pair of sacrifice flies.
• Ryan tied the game in the top of the 5^th with a sac fly.
• After a prolonged at-bat, junior catcher Evan Orzech (Shorewood, Ill./Crossroads Christian Academy) ripped an RBI double to the gap in right center. Smyth put down a sacrifice bunt and an error allowed a run to score. Two batters later, junior outfielder Daniel Barrios (Manteno, Ill./Manteno) layed down a sac bunt to score Smyth to put Saint Xavier ahead, 7-4.
• Mann faced the minimum over the next three innings and recorded a strikeout to send the Cougars to the CCAC Championship.

Game Two:

• Barrios finished 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base.
• Zarrillo was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, a run and a stolen base.
• Senior infielder Patrick Hayes (Chicago, Ill./Moraine Valley/Parkland/Brother Rice) went 2-for-3 with a double
• Sophomore pitcher Logan McCleery (Patterson, Calif./Patterson) took the mound and pitched 5.1 innings with five hits given up, two runs and two strikeouts.
• Barrios broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 4^th when he hit a high comebacker back to the pitcher, who knocked the ball down but couldn't corral it allowing Smyth to score from third. Barrios and Zarrillo, who doubled earlier in the inning, pulled a double steal to make it 2-0.
• The Titans tied the game in the top of the 6^th on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly.
• In the bottom of the 7^th, Zarrillo legged out a two-out RBI infield single to put SXU back in front.
• Senior centerfielder Collin Woulfe (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) provided an insurance run in the bottom of the 8^th when he put down an RBI single off a bunt that brought in Barrios after he led the frame off with a double and moved to third on a flyout.
• In the top of the 9^th, Mann posted a strikeout and rolled a pair of groundouts to secure the win.

Saint Xavier (30-25/17-10 CCAC) takes on Indiana University South Bend on Tuesday, May 9 at Duly Health and Care Field in Joliet, Ill. First pitch for the CCAC Championship is slated for 7:00 pm.