The Newman baseball team pushed its winning streak to four, and moved to within one game of fourth place in the Heartland Conference standings with a sweep of Lincoln Tuesday afternoon at McCarthy Field. The Jets won the opener, 6-3, and concluded the twinbill with a 5-3 win.
Game 1: Newman 6, Lincoln 3
Lincoln opened the game with a two-run first inning to take the early momentum, but the Jets narrowed the gap with a run in its half of the frame. After walking to open the first inning, Kori Melo stole second, then scored on an RBI single to first base by Picos Soto. After one inning, Newman trailed, 2-1.
The Jets took the lead for the first time in the second inning. Trent Bierman took advantage of a Blue Tiger blunder at third base to reach on an error. A Matt Cardona single to left advanced Bierman to second, and put runners at first and second with nobody out. Brett Delcambre moved both runners over with a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher. A John Bonebrake double to right center cashed both runners in, and gave the Jets a 3-2 advantage after two innings.
The Blue Tigers added another run in the fourth to tie the game, but Newman answered the call once again. Newman scored two runs on a Brandon Cox double down the left field line, and took a 5-3 lead. The Jets added a single run in the bottom of the sixth to secure the 6-3 win.
Patrick Redlin picked up his first win of the season, allowing just one earned run in five innings of work. Redlin walked one and struck out one as he moved to 1-0 this year. Zach Biery recorded his second save of the season, allowing just one hit and recording three strikeouts in two innings on the hill.
Cody Dudenhoeffer was saddled with the loss for the Blue Tigers.
Game 2: Newman 5, Lincoln 3
Just like in the opening game, Lincoln took an early two-run lead in the first inning. And, just as in the first game, Newman responded with one run. This time, that run came in the second inning. After being hit by a James Johndrow pitch to start the inning, Mike Williams scored on a Brett Delcambre single to second base.
In another case of deja vu, Newman followed its one-run inning with a two-run inning in the second to take another 3-1 lead after three innings of play. Kori Melo opened the third inning with a double to the left-center field gap, and scored on a Ryan Peterson single. Peterson scored later when Picos Soto grounded out to first base.
Lincoln responded with a single run in the fifth, tying the game at 3-3, but Newman had another two-spot in mind. Peterson put himself n base with a single through the right side, and scored on a double by Brandon Cox. Cox finished his trip around the bases on a Picos Soto sacrifice fly to center field to give the Jets the 5-3 margin they went on to win by.
Kenny Licea pitched six complete innings for the Jets, giving up three earned runs on six hits while walking four and striking out two. Jacob Burch came in to close the game in the seventh, and retired the three Blue Tigers he faced to pick up his second save of the season.
Johndrow was hit with the loss for Lincoln , falling to 0-2 on the season.
With the sweep, the Jets improve to 12-11 on the season, and 12-10 in Heartland Conference play. Newman also closed to within one game of fourth-placed St. Edward's with the sweep. St. Edward's will pay a visit to Wichita later this week for four games starting at 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon at McCarthy Field.