Offense powers Xavier baseball to third

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids Xavier made hitting look easy last night, taking third place in the Bob Vrbicek Metro Tournament by taking down Linn-Mar, 10-2.

A five-run fourth inning powered the Saints past the Lions, and strong pitching by both Xavier hurlers - right-handers Nick Drahozal and Bryce Grimm - kept the Linn-Mar bats quiet for the majority of the evening.

Lions starting pitcher Michael Bogart gave up three hits and a wild pitch on four of five batters to make the score 5-1 Xavier with two outs in the top of the fourth. Adam Bradley was brought in to relieve Bogart, but he couldn't end the Saints' scoring surge.

With two balls and no strikes, Xavier first baseman Adam Pick hit a towering 380-foot home run over the Xavier scoreboard to bring in Mitch Keller and make the score 7-1. Keller had fallen a few feet short of getting a dinger of his own in center field on the prior at bat.

After two scoreless innings tossed by Grimm and Bradley, Linn-Mar attempted a small comeback in the bottom of the fifth. Brandt Ollinger hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Ben Larson, and runners stayed in scoring position for Jackson Jacobs. After an eight-pitch dual with Bryce Grimm, Jacobs was struck out looking to end the inning and leave Xavier up 5 runs.

And with reserves at the plate, the Saints continued to pour on the hitting. Hunter Baldus and Ryan Flaherty hit back-to-back two-out singles in the top of the seventh, bringing Connor Powers to the plate.

Powers hit a 3-run homer 30-feet beyond the right-field fence to give Xavier its second home run of the day. The Xavier players cleared to dugout to greet Powers after his trip around the bases, and senior pitcher Nolan Even held onto the lead in the bottom frame to solidify the third place title for his Saints. Xavier ended the day with 10 runs off 12 hits, making for about as efficient a day at the plate as a coach can ask for.

'It's a good one, we'll take it … All we teach those guys is get good swings at the bat,” said Xavier head coach Dave Schemmel. 'If they can put the ball in play and do it the right way, they're going to get some power under it - and they're strong kids, they got pitches to hit and took care of it.”

l Comments: ben.ross@thegazettecompany.com