Eric Gilbert, Sports Editor
After a 7-6 loss to Millikin on Sunday, April 12, the Titans were able to bounce back with a 5-0 win against Benedictine University on Wednesday, April 15.
The victory propelled them to an overall record of 19-7 and 9-3 in conference. The Titans have yet to lose a conference game at home this year, as they have posted an 8-0.
Sophomore pitcher Kyle Snedeker improved his record to 4-0, allowing only one hit and striking out two. Seven other Titan pitchers helped contribute on the mound to give them their fourth shutout on the season.
“Snedeker started the game off strong and then we had a lot of guys come in a get the job done. Collectively I thought it was one of our better pitching performances on the year,” said senior pitcher Matt Hart.
Behind the plate, the Titans received eight hits from seven different players. Senior second baseman Derek Idstein opened up the scoring in the third inning, driving in junior outfielder Adam Glogovsky on a sacrifice fly to the Benedictine right fielder.
In the fourth inning the bats came alive, as they scored four more to round out the five-run victory. Idstein picked up his second RBI on the night with a single down the left side. Idstein scored later that inning on a single down the third base line by sophomore catcher Patrick Mollo.
Glogovsky and senior Tim Coonan supplied the other two RBI’s for the Titans on the day. “There’s going to be days like today where both teams have some trouble behind the plate. We had a big fourth inning to give us a commanding lead and then our pitchers did the rest,” said Mollo.
Mollo is having a break-out season in his second year wearing green and white Titan uniform. He currently ranks first on the team in home runs (5), doubles (15), RBI’s (27), hits (40) and second in batting average (.392). First-year third baseman Gino Cavalieri has also proved to be a great addition to the Titans line-up.
Cavalieri, a two time All-Conference selection at Fenwick high school last year, has started 22 of 23 games so far. In those 23 games, he’s hitting .316 with 25 hits and 18 RBI’s.
“It’s always a pretty big deal when a first-year comes in and gets playing time but Gino has been a regular starter for us this year. He’s done a terrific job of adjusting to the college game in such a short amount of time,” said sophomore outfielder Nick Huskisson.
With Wednesday night’s victory, the Titans reclaimed their spot on top of the CCIW conference. Carthage College and North Central College are one game back (8-4) while Augustana College and Wheaton College
are two games behind (6-6).
The Titans have 10 games remaining, six of which are in conference. With a 19-7 overall record, they appear qualified enough to earn an at large bid to the NCAA tournament at this point but that’s not necessarily something they want to rely on.
Winning the CCIW tournament would surely be the safer route as they would receive an automatic bid and possible home field advantage. “Of course we’ve started thinking about the NCAA tournament but for
now we just need to take it one game at a time. There’s still a lot of season left to be plays,” said Huskisson.
The Titans will look to continue their winning ways Saturday, April 18 when they travel to Rock Island, Ill. to take on the Vikings of Augustana College.