The Aquinas baseball team does not often play a four-game weekend series in conference play, based on the league schedule from a year-to-year basis. In fact, this season the Saints have done this just twice – and the first instance saw a pair of rainouts postpone the conclusion of the series at Madonna.
This weekend, AQ swept a four-game road WHAC series for the first time since 2016. After consecutive wins on Saturday (Apr. 22) at Siena Heights by scores of 16-3 and 4-1, Aquinas duplicated the feat on Sunday (Apr. 23) with wins of 7-0 and 11-4.
The four-game sweep puts Aquinas at 26-19 overall on the year and 16-10 in WHAC play. AQ's 26 victories are the most since the 2010 Saints won 27 games. The weekend sweep is the first such conference stretch since Apr. 16-17, 2016 when Aquinas took four consecutive games from Marygrove.
AQ outscored Siena Heights (9-31 overall, 6-22 WHAC) by a 38-8 tally over the last 48 hours. The four-game stretch moves Aquinas into fifth place in the conference standings. The Saints have one final series next weekend (Apr. 29-30) at home against third-place UNOH.
Game 1: Aquinas 7, Siena Heights 0 (7 innings)
After throwing a complete-game two-hitter with 10 strikeouts at Cleary on Tuesday (Apr. 18),
Conor Gausselin was just as good on Sunday. He tossed six innings of scoreless one-hit ball, walking one and striking out nine. Gausselin retired the first 13 batters, not allowing a base hit until a one-out double in the fifth.
He struck out the side in the bottom of the second inning and was rewarded with four runs from the AQ offense in the top of the third. The Saints rallied with two outs, as a
Grant Martin double plated
Mark Binkowski (double) and
Jake Paganelli (reached on an error) for the early 2-0 advantage.
Chase Ingersoll followed with a two-run homer to double the AQ lead, 4-0. It was the fourth blast for Ingersoll this season.
A sacrifice bunt from
Ryan Gillings in the fourth upped the score to 5-0 and
Luke Lacross delivered an RBI single in the sixth. Ingersoll's RBI triple in the seventh scored Paganelli – who doubled – for the final run in the 7-0 win.
After allowing a leadoff single,
Nathan Myers recorded three flyball outs on the hill to close out the victory. Gausselin moves to 4-3 on the year with the win.
AQ outhit Siena Heights 12-2. Binkowski and Ingersoll each went 3-for-4, with Ingersoll collecting three RBI and scoring twice. Paganelli scored two runs and Martin drove in a pair, while Lacross and Martin each notched two hits.
Game 2: Aquinas 11, Siena Heights 4
In the nightcap, Aquinas again registered 12 hits – using a big six-run fifth inning to blow the game open. The Saints jumped to a 3-0 advantage in the second on run-scoring singles from
JD Gillies,
Dawson Shearer, and Binkowski.
AQ's lead was 5-2 in the fifth when the team notched six runs on six hits to open an 11-2 cushion. Lacross smacked a two-run triple, Shearer belted a two-run homer, and Binkowski added a two-run roundtripper to take complete control of game two. The homer was Shearer's first, while it was Binkowski's fourth long ball of the year.
Four AQ hurlers combined to allow just two unearned runs on six hits in the victory.
Ethan Pequette started and logged five innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He struck out four batters.
Nathan Esch,
Josh Avink, and
Tristan Hysell each gave up one hit over the final three innings in relief.
Binkowski and Shearer each tallied three RBI, with Shearer finishing 3-for-3. Lacross and Shearer both scored twice. Nine different Saints collected a hit in game two, with nine players also crossing home plate.
Joseph Kelley and
Braden Brown each walked twice.
Prior to next weekend's series against UNOH, the Saints are scheduled for a non-conference contest against Calvin on Tuesday (Apr. 25). The single game will start at 5:00 p.m. at Meijer Sports Complex. AQ is four wins shy of its first 30-win season since 2006.
