Saturday, April 12, 2003

Valparaiso, Ind. - Marc Boggio, Adam Paetznick and Tom Starck turned in impressive pitching performances as Valpo (8-15-1) swept IPFW in a doubleheader by scores of 2-1 and 7-6. In the first game, Boggio limited the Mastodons to one run on four hits in 6 innings before Paetznick pitched the seventh for the save. Starck struck out seven, while allowing three earned runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings in the nightcap. Paetznick struck out the last batter with the tying run on third to record his fourth save. Brandon Sadler had two hits and four RBIs in the second game.

In the first game, the Crusaders grabbed a 1-0 lead when Jeff Mandsager delivered a two-out, RBI single to left field to score Sean Peickert, who reached base after being hit by a pitch.

Valpo, which is 5-0 at home, took a 2-0 lead in the fourth with another two-out RBI. After Eddie Hannan drew a walk with two outs, Kyle Young plated Hannan with a double to right

IPFW (12-18-1) tallied its run in the fifth on a suicide squeeze bunt by Zach Walton, scoring Jacob Abramson. With the tying run on third, Boggio struck out Ryan Keena to end the inning.

Paetznick relieved Boggio to start the seventh and escaped from another jam. With runners on first and third and one out, IPFW attempted the suicide squeeze again, but the pitch was not bunted and Young tagged out Tyler Fowler at the plate. Paetznick finished the contest by fanning Adam Gibson.

Boggio (2-3) earned the win, striking out two and walking none. Paetznick allowed two hits and struck out one. Jason Horvath (4-3) hurled a strong game for the Mastodons, allowing two runs and two hits, while striking out nine and walking two in 6 innings.

In the second game, the Crusaders scored two runs in the first on Sadler's two-run double. Valpo extended its advantage to 3-0 in the second when Caleb Kimmel doubled and scored on Eric Snyder's RBI single.

Starck (1-1) pitched shutout ball through four innings, limiting IPFW to just one hit. The Crusaders scored two more runs in the fourth on Hannan's RBI fielder's choice and on a throwing error by the catcher.

IPFW reached the scoreboard in the fifth to cut Valpo's lead to 5-2. Gibson scored on a passed ball and Dustion Fremion added an RBI single.

Sadler, who leads the Crusaders with a .325 batting average and 16 RBIs, came through again in the sixth with a two-out, two-run single to increase the lead to 7-2.

The Mastodons made things interesting in the seventh by scoring four runs (two unearned) on two hits. IPFW benefited from two Crusader errors. However, with Walton on third and two outs, Paetznick struck out Jesse Shovek to complete the sweep.

Kimmel had two hits in the nightcap for Valpo, while Fremion had two for IPFW.

Valpo will play a single game against IPFW on Sunday in Fort Wayne beginning at noon.