UPLAND, Ind. - The University of Saint Francis (Ind.) baseball team took on the Indiana Wesleyan University Wildcats in the second round of the Crossroads League Tournament on Friday, May 3. The Cougars were able to erase an early deficit and come back to win in extra innings 9-7.

The Cougs found themselves down 5-0 after the first two innings of Friday night's game. Saint Francis struggled offensively, but Casey Henry dominated in five innings of relief on the mound, only giving up one hit and striking out five without allowing a run. The Cougars put themselves on the board in the 6th with an Ayden Lichtensteiger RBI single to make it 5-1. The Cougars offense exploded in the 8th inning. A Brenden Lytle RBI walk, followed by a wild pitch, a Jayden Lepper RBI walk, and a Xavier Croxton two-run double gave the Cougars the lead 6-5. In the bottom of the 8th, IWU responded and regained the lead 7-6, but USF did not lay down as Nick Parsons broke the single-season homerun record with a solo shot to make it 7-7. Blaine McRae went 2.1 innings in relief with four punch outs to help USF. In the top of the 10th, Eli Riley came up big with a two out two-run single to make it 9-7. The Cougs turned a double play to seal this one up and help them stay undefeated in tournament play.

Henry and McRae were dominant on the mound to help USF out in this one. Parsons broke the single-season homerun record with his 16th homerun on the year. Croxton had three hits to go along with 2 RBIs. Riley had a big go ahead two-run single in extra innings. 

Tonight's game improved the Cougars' overall record to 36-15. They will continue their postseason run on Saturday at 6:00 PM est. USF will face the winner of no. 1 Taylor and no. 2 Indiana Wesleyan, both with one loss. 

Cougar fans stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.

- Sam Pesa -