FRANKLIN, Wisconsin – Sophomore Nick Gross drove in four runs in game one and junior Jimmy Carrington knocked in the winning run with a single in game two to send the MSOE baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Illinois Tech Monday afternoon in its first games of the season at The Rock Complex.

The Raiders (7-7) prevailed 10-6 in game one and their bullpen shut down the Scarlet Hawks (2-13) to win game two, 3-2.

MSOE clubbed three home runs in the first game, with Carrington, Gross, and freshman Julian Sonn each going deep. All three players finished with two hits in the game, as did junior Ryan Newman.

The Red & White jumped on the board first in the opener, striking for three runs with two outs in the third inning. Senior Brandon McCumber reached on a one-out error and, two batters later, came around on Carrington's booming home run to left field. Sonn was hit by a pitch and moved up to third on a passed ball and a balk. After a walk, he scored when junior Garrett Willems singled off the third base bag.

Illinois Tech responded immediately with a two-out rally of its own. The visitors collected six-straight hits on its way to scoring four runs and taking a 4-3 lead. Newman prevented an additional run from scoring by throwing a runner out at the plate from centerfield to end the inning.

The IIT lead was short-lived as McCumber tied the game with a RBI double in the bottom of the fourth and scored on Gross' home run to centerfield. Then, two batters later, Sonn hit a solo home run to center to make it 7-4 Raiders.

The teams traded runs again in the fifth inning, with the Scarlet Hawks pulling back a run in the top half of the inning, only to see Gross drive in two runs with a bases-loaded single for a 9-5 lead. Newman then capped the team's scoring with a RBI single in the sixth inning.

Illinois Tech tallied a two-out run in the seventh inning but that was as close as it would get.

On the mound, freshman Justin Celeski worked 3.0 innings of relief for the win. Senior Jacob Roley threw a scoreless first inning to get some work while junior Michael Boehmer and sophomore Sam Crawford combined on the final 3.0 innings to close out the game.

After the teams combined for 16 runs in the opener, pitching dominated the second game. With the score tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth in game two, Newman was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame. He moved up to second base on a sacrifice bunt and, two batters later, he came to score on Carrington's two-out single through the left side to put the Red & White ahead.

MSOE benefited from 3.1 innings of sterling relief from freshman Nathan Tremore (1-0) in the nightcap. He struck out six and allowed just one hit and one walk. He retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced with the only base runner reaching on an error until there were two outs in the sixth inning.

Sophomore Matt Mohapp then threw a perfect seventh inning, striking out the side, to pick up the save.

Illinois Tech had opened the scoring in the game with two runs in the third inning. Tremore then entered the game with two runs in, one out, and two runners in scoring position. He responded with a strikeout and fly out to escape danger.

The Raiders quickly responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Newman had led off the inning with a single and advanced to third on a balk and deep fly out. After a walk to Gross, Carrington came through with a RBI single. After freshman Julian Sonn singled, junior Owen Burnikel plated Gross with the team's third-straight base hit.

MSOE has now won 5-of-6 games since returning to Wisconsin. The team takes the field again on Thursday, hosting Northland in a doubleheader at The Rock. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.