MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa - Webster University Baseball closed the 2021 regular season here Monday afternoon by sweeping both ends of a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Iowa Wesleyan at the Mapleleaf Athletic Complex. 

The No. 3/No. 5-ranked Gorloks opened Monday's doubleheader with a 10-1 win over the Tigers, before recording 15 hits and scoring 17 runs in a 17-0 run-ruled win in seven innings in the nightcap to extend its win streak to five straight games heading into Thurday's SLIAC Tournament. 

With Monday's two wins, Webster improves to 30-6 overall and 25-3 in the SLIAC and the Gorloks also claimed its 14th consecutive SLIAC regular season title and earned the No. 1 seed in the SLIAC Tournament. The 30 wins also marks Webster's 10th season of winning at least 30 games, while the 25 league wins also tie a school record for SLIAC wins as the 2014 team went 25-0 in league play.

In Monday's two games, the Gorloks outscored the Tigers, 27-1 and outhit the Tigers, 29-6. In addition, Webster drew nine walks, was hit by six pitches and went 7-for-7 on stolen bases. 

Nine Gorloks recorded at least two hits in the doubleheader, including four of those nine players recording three hits each. 

In the opener on Monday, Webster recorded 14 hits, including fourth-year junior shortstop Ben Swords (Freeport, Ill./Freeport), third-year sophomore catcher Zach Goodman (Greenwood Village, Colo./Arapahoe) and second-year freshman designated hitter Landon Vahle (Lee's Summit, Mo./St. Michael Archangel) each had two hits. 

The Gorloks got the scoring started in the first inning of the first game as they used an error by Iowa Wesleyan, a single by freshman catcher R.J. LaRocco (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma) and a sacrifice fly off the bat of fifth-year senior All-American first baseman Kyler Kent (Pottsboro, Texas/Pottsboro). 

IWU would score its only run of the day in the bottom of the second inning against fourth-year junior pitcher Sean Beaver (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch). In the inning, Jake Leonard led off with a single, moved to second on bunt, advanced to third on a ground out and score on an RBI single to right by Erik Kiewiet. 

Beaver would pitch the first two innings and allow three hits and one run, while striking out one and walking none.

Webster would respond by sending 10 hitters to the plate in the third inning as they recorded five hits and took advantage to two IWU errors and scored a run on a passed ball as they plated six runs and take a 7-1 lead. In the inning, Lovell reached on a error and moved to third on a single by Kent and scored on an RBI single by Swords. Fifth-year senior second baseman A.J. Smith (DuQuoin, Ill./DuQuoin) then hit an RBI double to center and then fourth-year sophomore third baseman Mitch Daniels reached on an error that plated Swords. The next hitter, Goodman, recorded a sacrifice bunt to plate a run and then Vahle reached on a bunt single to put runners on second and third. Daniels would then score the fifth run of the inning on a passed ball and Hopp would follow with an RBI single to right. 

Kent's hit in the third inning was the 200th of his career and with those 200 hits, he becomes one of just four players with 200 career hits. He is currently third on the school's career hit chart with 202 career hits. 

The Gorloks added two more runs in the fifth on RBI singles by Vahle and Hopp to push its lead to 9-1 and then completed the scoring in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by fourth-year junior pinch hitter Kellen Quigley (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook). Quigley's single scored freshman catcher Nico Cristelli (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo East), who had opened the inning with a single.

Freshman Alek Elges (Littleton, Colo./J.K. Mullen) picked up the win to move to 4-1 on the season as he pitched the third and fourth innings and didn't allow a base runner and recorded two strikeouts. Elges was one of the four pitchers used by the Gorloks in the game. The next two hurlers, senior Cooper Hake (Lincoln, Ill./IU-South Bend) struck out two and didn't allow a hit in two innings, while junior Bryce Meyer (Bartonville, Ill./Carl Sandburg College) allowed one run in the one inning he pitched. 

Leonard had two of IWU's four hits in the first game. 

Charles Shockley (0-2) took the loss for the Tigers as he pitched five innings and allowed 10 hits and nine runs (three earned runs), while striking out two and walking none. 

The Tigers committed four errors in the game and left three runners on base. Webster stranded nine runners on base and each team turned a double play.

Meanwhile, in the nightcap, the Gorloks scored runs in the first six innings, including tallying five runs in both the second and fourth innings. 

Along with scoring runs in six of the seven innings, the Gorloks recorded 15 hits and those 15 hits are tied for the third-most in a game this season. 

In the nightcap, LaRocco, Kent and Smith each had two hits, while Lovell scored three runs, had two RBI and stole his 16th base of the season. In addition to Lovell's three runs, Hopp, freshman designated hitter Levi Hall (Oceanside, Calif./E; Camino) fourth-year junior second baseman Jake Knoebel (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield East) each scored two runs in the win. 

The Gorloks jumped in front 1-0 in the top of the first when LaRocco, who reached on a one-out single to left, stole home. LaRocco's steal of home came after he stole second and moved to third on a single up the middle by Kent off of Clayton Lathen. 

Webster pushed its lead to 6-0 in the top of the second as they used five hits, a wild pitch, two walks, three stolen bases and a sacrifice fly to score those five runs. One of those stolen bases as a steal of home by Hopp, while the other runs came home on an RBI double by Hall, an RBI single by Hopp, a sacrifice fly by LaRocco and an RBI single by Smith.

The Gorloks lead grew to 7-0 in the top of the third inning thanks to an RBI single by Kent, which plated Lovell, who reached on a fielder's choice.

Webster added five more runs to its total in the fourth with the big hit being a 2-run single up the middle by Lovell. The Gorloks also scored on a bases loaded walk issued to Hopp, a wild pitch by Joe Herges and an RBI double by LaRocco. 

Two sacrifice flies by Hall and second-year freshman rightfielder Dylan Coleman (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame College Prep) and a throwing error by IWU second baseman Corbin Broeker gave Webster three more runs and pushed its lead to 15-0 in the fifth inning. 

Webster would complete the scoring in the top of the sixth as the Gorloks scored two runs to push its lead to 17-0. In the inning, Third-year sophomore catcher Austin Jisa (Lincoln, Neb./Southeast) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Vahle brought home the second run on his sacrifice fly to right. 

Third-year sophomore Joey Marko (Winfield, Mo./Winfield) pitched the third inning and allowed one run to pick up the win in relief. Marko improved to 3-0 on the season. 

Marko was one of six pitchers used in the game by the Gorloks as freshman J.T. Miller (Centennial, Colo./Regis Jesuit) started the game and tossed two innings and allowed one hit, while walking one and striking out two. 

For the game, Webster's five relievers combined to pitch five innings and allowed one hit, walked one and struck out eight, including fourth-year junior Jake Anderson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) striking out all three batters he faced in the sixth inning. 

Lathen (0-4) took the loss to IWU as he pitched two innings and allowed seven hits and six runs, while walking four and striking out two. 

The Tigers finished the game with two hits and had just four base runners for the game as the Gorloks turned two double plays in the game. 

Webster left 11 runners on base and drew eight walks and were hit by five pitches in the nightcap. 

The Gorloks will open up play in the 2021 SLIAC Tourmament this coming Thursday, May 13 as they face eighth-seeded Eureka in the first game of Pod 1 at 3:30 p.m. at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Mo. The other first round Pod 1 game features fourth-seeded Westminster meeting fifth-seeded Greenville University at 6:30 p.m. at CarShield Field. 

Here is the schedule for the 2021 SLIAC Baseball Tournament
 
POD 1 – Webster, Westminster, Greenville, Eureka
POD 2 – Spalding, Fontbonne, Iowa Wesleyan, Blackburn
 
Thursday, May 13
@CarShield Field
Game 1: #1 Webster vs. #8 Eureka, 3:30 p.m.
Game 2: #4 Westminster vs. #5 Greenville, 6:30 p.m.
@Clayton High School
Game 3: #2 Spalding vs. #7 Blackburn, 3:30 p.m.
Game 4: #3 Fontbonne vs. #6 Iowa Wesleyan, 6:30 p.m.

Friday, May 14
@Clayton High School
Game 5: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 10 a.m.
Game 7: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 1:30 p.m.
@CarShield Field
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 10 a.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 1:30 p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 8, 4:30 p.m.
Game 10: Winner of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 7, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 15
@CarShield Field
Game 11: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 9 (Pod 2), 10 a.m.
Game 12: Winner of Game 10 vs. Winner of Game 7 (Pod 1), 1:30 p.m.
Game 13: If Necessary (Pod 2), 4:30 p.m.
Game 14: If Necessary (Pod 1), 7:30 p.m.

Championship Series (Best of 3)
@Highest Seeded Team
Friday, May 21
Game 1: TBD
Saturday, May 22
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: (If Necessary), TBD