Led by strong offensive performances at the plate from Nolan Tressler, Michael De Jesus and Noah Sniadach in Game 1, and an early offensive explosion that saw the Shawnee State baseball program put up four runs on seven hits over the first two innings of Game 2, Rob Ehlers' squad swept a River States Conference doubleheader against the Alice Lloyd Eagles' baseball program, claiming 8-7 and 4-2 victories Saturday evening in Pippa Passes, Ky.

Between both contests, Shawnee State posted 12 runs on 21 hits to clinch the series with a single nine-inning affair on Sunday still to play. The Bears overcame a four-run deficit (6-2) after the second inning of work by putting up six unanswered runs to take Game 1, and jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the first two innings of Game 2 en route to cruising home with the win and the Saturday sweep.

Game 1 -- Shawnee State 8, Alice Lloyd 7

In Saturday's opener, Shawnee State jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the opening half-inning of play as a leadoff single by Nolan Tressler, a one-out walk by Noah Sniadach and a hit batter with two gone in the inning was followed by a clutch two-out, two-RBI single to center field by Michael De Jesus, immediately putting the Bears ahead by the aforementioned two-run margin.

Alice Lloyd, however, rallied. Four singles ultimately resulted in the Eagles equalizing the score at two runs apiece after the opening inning of play, and in the second frame, an error, a walk, and a single ultimately allowed Alice Lloyd's Carson Tate to go yard with a grand slam that put Alice Lloyd ahead by a 6-2 count after two innings of work.

However, Shawnee State worked its way back into the fight.

A one-out single by Michael De Jesus got the ball rolling for the Bears, who added a run on an error on the following batter and obtained a sacrifice fly from Tyler Lund to cut Alice Lloyd's lead in half, trailing by a scant 6-4 count after four innings of action.

With the top of the lineup coming back up to the plate in the fifth frame of work, Shawnee State then took advantage by putting together a big frame -- as the Bears utilized a leadoff single by Tressler and a one-out RBI double to left by Sniadach to cut Alice Lloyd's lead to a 6-5 margin. Two batters later, Zach Gaspar's RBI single to center tied the game, and the following batter, De Jesus, emptied the bases and gave Shawnee State the lead with a critical two-out big fly to left field.

In two frames of work, Shawnee State had turned a 6-2 deficit into an 8-6 lead -- but Alice Lloyd didn't go down without a fight.

In the bottom half of the sixth inning, Tate's leadoff walk and back-to-back singles allowed the Eagles to close within an 8-7 margin before Shawnee State freshman relief pitcher Carson Wireman buckled down by getting an infield flyout, a groundout and a pickoff to get out of the jam with a lead still intact for the Bears.

With the margin still 8-7 in favor of Shawnee State heading into the bottom half of the ninth inning, a single, a walk, a stolen base and a flyout allowed Alice Lloyd's Kyle Johnson to reach third base as the potential game-tying run while the potential game-winning run, Trenton Williams, stood at first base for the Eagles. However, Wireman, who threw four innings of four-hit baseball in relief, forced a flyout to center field to preserve the victory for the Bears.

Game 2 -- Shawnee State 4, Alice Lloyd 2

In the second affair, Shawnee State wasted no time jumping on Alice Lloyd early -- as yet another leadoff single by Nolan Tressler, along with an error on a bunt that Hunter Warner put down, allowed Tressler to advance to third base. The leadoff hitter then scored on Noah Sniadach's RBI groundout to give Shawnee State a 1-0 advantage after an inning of work.

Then in the second frame, a one out single by Kyle Eslick and a two out base knock by Ryan Scott turned the lineup back over to Tressler, who crushed an RBI double to right field to score Scott, while a balk scored courtesy runner Eli Jones prior to Tressler's big run-producing outfield hit. Tressler then came around to score on Warner's RBI base knock to left field -- as the Bears scored all three of their runs in the second frame with two outs on the board.

From there, effective pitching in clutch situations by Eric Oakes helped do the job. Two singles and a walk in the first inning, along with two walks and a hit by pitch in the third inning, put Oakes on the ropes in the first and third frames, but the talented hurler danced out of trouble both times by notching a strikeout to end the first frame and a flyout to end the third stanza. Oakes then held two additional runners on in the fourth frame of work by inducing an inning-ending groundout in the fourth frame of action.

Oakes continued to roll until the seventh frame, when Alice Lloyd attempted to rally. Back-to-back singles by Grover Maynard and Layne Masters allowed the Eagles to cut Shawnee State's lead to a 4-1 margin, and a hit by Joey Johnson, along with a walk and a hit by pitch, allowed Masters to score to cut SSU's lead to a 4-2 count. However, Jimmy Bodrock, who came on in relief of Oakes for the final third of an inning, secured the final out and forced Alice Lloyd to leave the bags full for the third time in the contest en route to preserving the 4-2 victory for the Bears.

Additional

Between both contests, Nolan Tressler went 5-for-8 with a walk, a double, an RBI and four runs scored while Noah Sniadach went 3-for-7 with a walk, two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored to head the charge at the top of the order. Zach Gaspar also went 3-for-7 with an RBI and a run scored between both contests.

Michael De Jesus went 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored to lead SSU in Game 1 while Kyle Eslick (1-for-3) and Ryan Scott (1-for-3, run scored) also produced in Game 2.

Shawnee State (16-19, 10-7 River States Conference) will look to claim a series sweep over Alice Lloyd (16-23, 3-14 River States Conference) when the duo match up against one another Sunday afternoon in a single nine-inning contest that will begin at 1 p.m. in Pippa Passes, Ky.

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