CHICAGO – Graduate student designated hitter/infielder Gabe Kirck (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Olivet/De La Salle) and sophomore infielder John Simecek (Twinsburg, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) each hit three home runs on the afternoon, with the Cougars totaling 10 home runs in two games as Saint Xavier University baseball (24-19/17-9 CCAC) swept Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) doubleheader at Richard R. Ferrell Memorial Field in Chicago, Ill., Simicek finished 4-for-5 with six runs, six RBI, four stolen bases and two walks, while Kirck combined to go 3-for-4 with five RBI, four runs scored and two walks in the first two games of the four-game series.

Game One:

• Kirck was 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs.
• Simicek had a hit in two at-bats with three runs scored, two steals and two walks.
• Senior outfielder Sean Moore (Chicago, Ill./Calumet St. Joseph/Thornwood) went 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, an RBI, a run scored and a steal.
• Junior catcher Aaron Orzech (Shorewood, Ill./Crossroads Christian Academy) was 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk.
• Senior infielder Justin Massingale (Carbondale, Ill./St. Charles/Carbondale Community) belted a home run, going 1-for-3 overall with two RBI and a walk.
• Sophomore infielder Noah Dreier (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield Central) drew two walks, stole two bases, hit a double and scored a run while going 1-for-1.
• Senior outfielder Michael Flier (Greenup, Ill./Spoon River/Cumberland) also collected two stolen bases with a run and an RBI sacrifice fly after finished 1-for-2.
• Junior pinch hitter Vaughn Smith (Milwaukee, Wis./Christian Brothers) slugged his first collegiate home run, a two-run blast, in his only plate appearance.
• Graduate student pitcher Jimmy Fairley (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Rock Valley/Huntley) improved to 7-1 on the mound after throwing 4.0 innings, allowing four hits, two runs and striking out four batters.
• Sophomore pitcher Garrett Benko (Chesterton, Ind./Andrean) tossed an inning of relief with one hit, one walk and one strikeout.
• Junior pitcher Thomas Plizga (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Olivet Nazarene/Fremd) made his first appearance out of the bullpen this season, working 1.0 inning with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Redshirt junior pitcher Aidan Harris (Lancaster, Ohio/Fisher Catholic) made his collegiate debut, pitching 1.0 inning with two hits, two runs (one earned) and a walk.
• Simicek stole third and he scored on an error on the same play to put SXU up 1-0 in the bottom of the 1^st.
• Kirck led off the bottom of the 2^nd with a home run to center field. Flier lifted a sac fly and Moore legged out an RBI triple, his team-leading eighth of the season, to push the lead to 4-0.
• In the bottom of the 3^rd, Kirck cracked a two-run home run over the wall in right field for a 6-0 advantage.
• The Crimson Wave smacked a two-run double in the top of the 4^th to cut the deficit to 6-2.
• Saint Xavier responded with four runs in the bottom half of the frame. A passed ball scored Moore, Massingale clubbed a two-run home run and an error brought in a run to make the score 10-2.
• In the bottom of the 5^th, the Cougars plated four more runs. Graduate student outfielder Travis Hammond (Stone Mountain, Ga./Southern Wesleyan/Emmanuel/Columbus State/Chamblee) hit an RBI double, Simicek hammered a two-run home run, and one batter later, Orzech homered to center field for a 14-2 lead.
• Redshirt junior pinch hitter Noah Zielinski (Oak Forest, Ill./Andrew) collected his first collegiate RBI on a ground out, a run scored on a wild pitch and Smith launched his first home run of the year to extended the advantage to 18-2 in the home half of the 6^th.
• CCSJ added two runs in the top 7^th on a pair of SXU miscues.

Game Two:

• Simicek went 3-for-3 with four RBI, three runs scored and two stolen bases.
• Kirck was 1-for-1 with three runs and two walks.
• Massingale finished 2-for-2 with a triple, a double, a run scored, an RBI, a walk and a steal.
• Dreier scored a pair of runs with an RBI double and a walk, finishing 1-for-2 at the plate.
• Senior outfielder Joeseph Jimenez (Palm Desert, Calif./Olivet Nazarene/Palm Desert) collected two hits in two at-bats, scoring two runs and stealing a base.
• Hammond went 1-for-3 with two RBI, a run and a stolen base.
• Sophomore catcher Victor Zaragoza (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) hit his first home run of the season while going 1-for-2 with two RBI.
• Junior outfielder Ryan O'Farrell (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) smacked a two-run double with a walk and a run scored.
• Junior pitcher Gannon Burns (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) made his second start of the campaign, drawing a no decision after throwing 2.0 innings without allowing a base runner.
• Junior pitcher Trent Markezich (Mount Olive, Ill./Mount Olive) got the win in relief (3-1) after logging 3.0 innings with four hits, one earned run and two strikeouts.
• Junior pitcher Josh Zubrzycki (Oak Forest, Ill./St. Laurence) made his collegiate debut, working an inning with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Junior pitcher Nick Krueger (Clifton, Ill./Danville Area/Central) threw an inning out of the bullpen, allowing one hit and recording a strikeout.
• SXU tallied five runs in the bottom of the 1^st. Simicek hit a home run to left center field, Orzech sliced an RBI double to the gap in right center, Dreier hammered an RBI double to left center, Flier brought in a run on a sacrifice fly and a run scored on a wild pitch.
• Simicek lined an RBI single and Massingle pulled an RBI double down the left field line to make the score 7-0 in the bottom of the 2^nd.
• Calumet St. Joseph got on the board with an RBI single in the top of the 3^rd.
• Saint Xavier added five runs in the bottom of the 3^rd to go up 12-1. Junior infielder Shea Zbrozek (Bloomington, Ill./Danville Area/Normal Community) hit an RBI double, Hammond collected an RBI single, Moore lifted a sac fly and Simicek homered down the left field line, a two-run shot, for his fourth of the year.
• Kirck slugged his team-leading 14^th home run over the wall in center field and Hammond added an RBI on a ground out to extend the lead to 14-1 in the bottom of the 4^th.
• The Cougars tacked on seven runs in the bottom of the 5^th. Zaragoza hit a two-run home run to left field, junior infielder Camden Smith (Florence, Ala./Valley Forge/Florence) made his SXU debut with a sacrifice fly, O'Farrell clubbed a two-run double down the left field line, a run scored on a balk and junior pinch hitter Jackson McFarland (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) hit a sac fly to cap the scoring.

Saint Xavier (24-19/17-9 CCAC) concludes its series with Calumet St. Joseph on Saturday, April 19. The doubleheader was originally scheduled to be played in Whiting, Ind., however the game will be played at Ferrell Field in anticipation of thunderstorms overnight. Game one is slated for 12:00 pm.