CHICAGO – The Saint Xavier University baseball team (31-17/21-11) concluded the regular season, earning a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) series split with Trinity Christian College (Ill.) and they celebrated 'Senior Day' postgame Saturday afternoon at Richard R. Ferrell Memorial Field in Chicago, Ill. The series started with a doubleheader Friday afternoon at the Schaaf Athletic Complex in Palos Heights, Ill. as the Cougars took game one, 9-7, behind a two-run home run by junior outfielder Ben Meier (Beechwood, Ky./Lincoln Trail/Beechwood) and two RBI off the bat of sophomore outfielder Parker Violett (Maple Park, Ill./Kaneland). SXU dropped the second game by a 16-4 decision with Violett driving in three runs. On Saturday, Saint Xavier suffered a 19-4 setback, however a strong pitching performance from senior pitcher Thomas Plizga (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Olivet Nazarene/Fremd) guided the Cougars in a 3-1 triumph.

SXU recognized 17 seniors with a postgame ceremony: catcher Max Archbold (Fort Myers, Fla./Olive Harvey/Fort Myers), pitcher Osvaldo Ballesteros Jr. (Berwyn, Ill./St. Laurence), infielder Easton Benes (Monee, Ill./Olney Central/Andrew), pitcher Gannon Burns (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville), outfielder Christian Cardenas (Chandler, Ariz./Moraine Valley/Basha), pitcher John Creviston (Westchester, Ill./Benedictine/Brother Rice), pitcher Jake Fenton (Chicago, Ill./Loras/Brother Rice), utility player Max Hensler (Oak Forest, Ill./Calvin/South Suburban/Oak Forest), pitcher Jarrett Kenyon (Henderson, Nev./Utah State Eastern/South Suburban/Coronado) pitcher Carter Kopp (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Bishop James Mahoney), pitcher Trent Markezich (Mount Olive, Ill./Mount Olive), outfielder Ryan O'Farrell (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest), catcher Jacob Obman (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central), catcher Aaron Orzech (Streamwood, Ill./Crossroads Christian Academy), Plizga, infielder Vaughn Smith (Milwaukee, Wis./Christian Brothers) and utility player Shea Zbrozek (Bloomington, Ill./Danville Area/Normal Community).

Game One:

• Meier was 2-for-4 overall with a stolen base.
• Zbrozek went 3-for-5 with five stolen bases, two runs scored, a double and an RBI from the leadoff spot.
• Violett finished 1-for-4 with two runs, two steals, a double and a walk.
• Junior outfielder Max Waszkiewicz (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale South) had two hits in three at-bats with two stolen bases, a run and a walk.
• Sophomore pitcher Tyler Deluca (Minooka, Ill./Minooka Community) pitched 5.0 innings to earn the win (4-2), allowing eight hits, five earned runs and striking out four batters.
• Senior pitcher Nick Krueger (Clifton, Ill./Danville Area/Clifton Central) logged an 'old-school' save as he worked 4.0 innings of relief for his second save of the season. He gave up six hits, two earned runs a walk and stuck out four.
• Violett smacked a two-run double and freshman infielder Trevor Corbett (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) collected an RBI on a groundout to put Saint Xavier up 3-0 in the top of the 1^st.
• Zbrozek added an RBI single in the top of the 2^nd.
• The Cougars tacked on five runs in the top of the 3^rd. A double steal and a throwing error brought in a run, junior infielder Noah Dreier (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield Central) hit a sacrifice fly, Meier launched his second home run of the year and Zbrozek stole home.
• The Trolls cut into the lead with an RBI single and a two-run double in the bottom of the 4^th. A two-run home run in the bottom of the 5^th made it a 9-5 game.
• TCC plated a run with an RBI single in the bottom of the 6^th, and another with a sac fly in the bottom of the 9^th before Krueger recorded back-to-back called third strikes to end the game.

Game Two:

• Violett was 2-for-2 with a double, a home run, a stolen base, a run scored and a walk.
• Orzech went 2-for-3 with a double.
• Senior infielder Beau Polickey (Oak Lawn, Ill./Heartland/Brother Rice) also finished 2-for-3, adding a steal.
• Junior pitcher Cole Martz (Huntington, Ind./Kankakee/Huntington North) took the loss (3-5), throwing 0.1 innings with three hits, six earned runs and three walks.
• Ballesteros Jr. worked 3.0 innings out of the bullpen, surrendering six hits, six runs (five earned) and recording two strikeouts.
• Kopp logged 1.2 innings of relief, scattering three hits with two earned runs, three walks and a strikeout.
• Junior pitcher Richard Gomez (Chicago, Ill./Parkland/Concordia/St. Laurence) threw an innings, allowing one hits, two earned runs, two walks and posting a strikeout.
• Violett hammered his second homer of the season in the top of the 1^st.
• Trinity Christian responded with a six-run rally in the bottom of the frame.
• Meier drove in a run after hitting into a double play in the top of the 2^nd.
• The Trolls added three runs in the bottom of the 2^nd to push their lead to 9-3.
• Violett picked up his third RBI of the game, pulling a double down the left field line in the top of the 3^rd.
• TCC plated three runs in the bottom of the 4^th, two in the bottom of the 5^th and two in the bottom of the 6^th.

Game Three:

• Corbett had two hits in three official at-bats with two walks, two runs scored and a stolen base.
• Waszkiewicz drew a pair of walks, going 1-for-2 with an RBI, a run and a steal.
• Markezich (4-2) was the losing pitcher after he went 2.0 innings with two hits, three runs (one earned), four walks and two strikeouts.
• Burns tossed 5.0 innings of relief, allowing five hits, five runs (two earned), a walk and striking out four batters.
• Redshirt freshman pitcher Ethan Godlewski (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) threw an inning, giving up three hits, three runs (two earned) and a walk.
• Kopp pitched 0.2 innings, surrendering three hits, seven earned run and four walks.
• Junior pitcher Anthony Velenza (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) gave up two hits and an earned run in 0.1 innings.
• Trinity Christian built a 5-0 advantage with three runs in the top of the 2^nd, and adding a run in both the top of the 3^rd and 4^th, respectively.
• Freshman catcher Kaleb Navarro (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) picked up an RBI on a ground out in the bottom of the 5^th.
• An error allowed Corbett to score a run in the bottom of the 6^th.
• The Trolls pushed their lead to 8-2 in the top of the 7^th with three runs. They went up 11-2 in the top of the 8^th on an RBI single and a two-run base hit.
• In the home half of the 8^th, Waszkiewicz legged out an RBI infield single and Dreier made the score 11-4 with an RBI groundout.
• TCC rallied for eight runs in the top of the 9^th to pull away with the win.

Game Four:

• Junior infielder John Simecek (Twinsburg, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) hit an RBI double with two walks and a stolen base.
• Violett also finished 1-for-1 with a walk and a sacrifice fly.
• Waszkiewicz was 2-for-3 with a steal and a run scored.
• Plizga (6-2) scattered four hits in 5.0 innings of work with one run (unearned) and a strikeout.
• Dreier pulled double-duty, going 2-for-3 at the plate and he threw 2.0 innings of relief with three strikeouts to earn his first collegiate save.
• Simecek lined an RBI double to put SXU up 1-0 in the bottom of the 1^st.
• Violett lifted a sac fly to shallow center to drive in Waszkiewicz in the bottom of the 3^rd.
• An error allowed the lone run to cross the plate for Trinity Christian with two outs in the top of the 5^th.
• Meier sliced an RBI double down the right field line in the bottom of the 6^th for added insurance.
• Dreier worked a 1-2-3 top of the 7^th to notch the save.

Saint Xavier (31-17/21-11 CCAC) prepares for the CCAC Tournament that begins on Wednesday, April 29 at Slammers Stadium in Joliet, Ill. The Cougars secured the No. 3 seed and will find out their opponent when the bracket for the double-elimination tournament is announced on Tuesday.