By now, Yorkville senior Frankie Pavlik is used to being told it’s time to get hot in the bullpen.

Opposing hitters?

That usually means they’re about to be put into a deep chill.

Pavlik, a hard-throwing right-hander, has not allowed a run yet this season in relief as the Foxes’ closer.

He played five innings at first base Monday, had a two-run single at the plate and was warming up in relief when a lightning delay hit in the top of the sixth of a game eventually called, Yorkville’s 5-4 win over Oswego in the first of a three-game Southwest Prairie Conference series.

“I was getting hot in the bullpen,” Pavlik said. “It happens quite a lot. Go out there, and coach will say go get hot.”

Pavlik was a starting pitcher on JV, but was moved to closer last year. He’d never done it before, but embraced the move. And clearly took to it.

This year, in 10⅓ innings across nine appearances, he has not been scored on, with 20 strikeouts and just five hits and four walks allowed.

“It’s a lot of fun, a lot of pressure – but I love the pressure," Pavlik said. “It’s the most fun part of the game because you know that whole part of the game is in your control. Knowing the game is in my hands, win or lose, I have all that power and all that pressure and I love it.”

He does seem to have the stuff to dominate in pressure spots.

Pavlik worked in the offseason with BSF Pitching Performance to push his velocity higher. The Blackhawk Community College commit has been clocked at 89, maybe 90, and sits at 87-88 with a solid curveball to boot.

“He’s got a really live arm, a good two-pitch mix that especially at the end of the game it’s hard for hitters to be on both,” Yorkville coach Tom Cerven said. “Early on last year didn’t have innings where he was able to get in – he got loose a lot – but finally toward the middle, end of the season he was able to get in more frequently and showed he was capable of doing very well in that role. He’s carried that mentality over to this year and been a really reliable arm for us."

Yorkville’s pitching staff as a whole has been more reliable than not, Pavlik at the back end and Gabe Sanders leading the front.

Sanders (5-0) provided more of the same Monday, throwing three shutout innings before getting nicked for two runs each in the fourth and fifth.

He struck out 10, seven of those in the first three innings. Sanders allowed nine hits and zero walks.

“Credit to Oswego, they took some good healthy swings off some tough pitches, saw him better second time around which is credit to them,” Cerven said. “Gabe is not an easy kid to hit. He’s been very good this year locating and forcing weak contact. They had weak contact, but hard contact too.”

Yorkville (12-7, 2-2) jumped ahead 2-0 in the first on a double by Kamden Muell, Kal Arntzen RBI single and Gavin Geegan’s two-out RBI single.

Pavlik, batting in the No. 9 spot, delivered what turned out to be a key hit in the fourth. With two on and two out, he reached out and hit a flare on an 0-2 pitch to drive in both runners for a 4-0 lead.

“I was up there, just put a good swing on it, can’t strike out in a big situation like that,” Pavlik said. “Needed those runs, barrel to the ball, trust my training, got my hands on the ball and put it in a good spot.”

Jailen Veliz followed with an RBI single.

The Foxes had just seven hits and were retired in order in three innings, but maximized their chances.

“That is something we’ve got better at,” Cerven said. “Early on in the season getting guys on base was not the issue, it was finding ways to get them in. Overall we did a good job taking advantage of opportunities.”

Oswego (11-10, 2-2), stymied for three innings by Sanders, got to him the last two.

Kevin Camacho’s two-out double in the fifth scored Hunter Amelio and Cam Loghmani. In the sixth Amelio singled in a third run, and the fourth scored on a double steal.

The Panthers had seven hits the last two innings, after taking a called third strike five times the first four.

“We kind of changed our approach,” Oswego coach Joe Giarrante said. “The thing with [Sanders] is he wasn’t getting us out out of the zone. We had to change our mentality and go up there and hit. He’s not going to make you swing and miss out of the zone, he gets you out in the zone.

“We got some hits, just a little too late for us. The weather caught up to us.”