Xavier Baseball

Brown's 3-run blast lifts Saints

VAN HORNE - Zach Brown belted a three-run homer in the sixth inning Tuesday as the Xavier Saints blanked Benton Community, 3-0, in a non-conference baseball game in Van Horne.

Nick Drahozal scattered three hits over six innings for the victory for Xavier (7-3).

Xavier    000 003 0 - 3 4 0
Benton   000 000 0 - 0 4 0

Saints, Warriors trade 3-2 wins

The Xavier Saints and Washington Warriors met in the championship game of the Bob Vrbicek Metro Tournament less than two weeks ago and it was an 11-1 mismatch in Xavier's favor.

The rematch Monday night was as tight as it gets as the clubs traded 3-2 victories in a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Washington.

Logan Clarahan’s RBI single and a bases-loaded walk to Bryce Grimm in the top of the eighth inning gave Xavier a 3-2 victory in the nightcap.

Clarahan had two of Xavier’s six hits while Reggie Schulte, Eric Schemmel and Mitch Keller combined to throw a one-hitter.

“I had two strikes and I just knew I was going to get a curveball so I just went with it,” said Clarahan. “My mindset was to just get the run in.”

Runs were hard to come by for the Saints, who stranded 24 runners in the doubleheader.

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Keller helps Tampa win D2 title

CARY, N.C. - Xavier High School graduate Jon Keller was the winning pitcher Saturday as the University of Tampa defeated Minnesota State, 8-2, in the championship game of the NCAA Division II national tournament.

Keller pitched seven innings in the finals and allowed six hits. It was his second victory in the national tournament.

Keller, a 6-foot-5 junior, transfered from the University of Nebraska to Tampa. He compiled a 6-3 record and 3.95 ERA this season with 47 strikeouts in 66 innings.

Tampa, ranked No.1 in the country, won its sixth national title.

Hammerberg's homer aids Xavier split

A solo home run by Luke Hammerberg in the bottom of the fourth inning proved to be the margin of victory for Xavier in a 3-2 win against Prairie in the first game of a Mississippi Valley doubleheader Friday night at Xavier.

Prairie claimed the nightcap, 9-1.

With the score tied at 2-2, Hammerberg drove a pitch over the left field fence. Starting pitcher Zach Brown and reliever Mitch Keller managed to make that run hold up for the victory.

“I just let my defense work for me,” said Brown.  “They have a good hitting front end of the lineup. They all hit the ball well, you just have to mix your pitches and keep them guessing.”

Hammerberg collected two hits and teammate Brenden Miller added a two-out RBI double in the second.

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