A late game surge by host Holy Cross College handed the Purdue University Calumet baseball team a 7-1 loss in Sunday’s Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference series finale Sunday at Notre Dame’s Fred Eck Stadium.
The Saints (15-8, 6-1 CCAC) broke open a 1-1 tie with six runs in the final three innings to seal the Game 3 victory after the two teams split in Saturday’s doubleheader in Hammond.
The Peregrines (9-3, 2-3 CCAC) opened the game with a 1-0 lead thanks to senior Anthony Colosimo’s (Lake Forest, Ind./Loyola Academy) RBI-single to left field with the bases loaded that scored sophomore Cole Garcia (Anaheim Hills, Calif./Canyon), who singled.
Holy Cross would answer in the bottom half of the first when Jacob Lanning’s liner up the middle – knocking the hat off Peregrine starter John Livingston’s head – knotted the score at 1-all.
That scored would hold until the sixth, when the Saints took a 2-1 lead on Paul Kappaz’s RBI single through the left side. The Peregrines had a chance to do some damage in the top of the inning, but Colosimo was thrown out at the plate attempting to score on a John Cristo (Munster, Ind./Munster) fielder’s choice.
Two straight doubles by the Saints’ Mike Pizzuto and Tommy Goodale to lead off the seventh spelled a three-run inning for HCC, who then added two more in the eighth on more timely hits while holding the Peregrines out of scoring position in the final two frames.
Livingston (0-1) took the loss for Purdue Calumet in a strong six-inning outing, scattering five hits and striking out six while giving up just two earned runs. HCC starter Matt Schwitz (5-1) got the win on the hill, allowing seven hits with one earned run and striking out two.
Colosimo finished with two hits and a RBI to lead the Peregrines at the plate. Teammates Garcia, Cody Dykema (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central), Livingston, Cristo, and Brad Staszewski (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) added singles in the setback.
Purdue Calumet returns to action Wednesday, March 25, when the Peregrines travel to league foe Roosevelt University for a pair of games beginning at 1 p.m. (CT) in Crestview, Ill.
