Baseball: Fauske leads Nazareth past Benet

LA GRANGE PARK – Nazareth’s Jaden Fauske was part of the problem and solution Monday night.

And he covered both bases in the final two innings.

Fauske, a sophomore, entered the epic East Suburban Catholic Conference home showdown against Benet trying to stop a sixth-inning rally. With the game tied, Fauske, a right-hander, was asked to keep the Redwings’ offense in check with two outs and runners on first and second.

But during the long stretch, which included an almost five-minute break, Fauske was sent back to the dugout to take off his white undershirt by the umpire.

[ Photos from Nazareth vs. Benet baseball ]

He changed his shirt from white to navy blue. And after tossing a few warmup pitches, Fauske got ready to extinguish the threat. Oddly, after another delay, Fauske was allowed a few more warmup pitches.

Not that he needed it.

“I was wearing a white undershirt, but the umpires don’t let you throw with a white undershirt, but I brought another, this [blue] one, just in case that happened,” Fauske said.

Fauske, a Louisville recruit, closed out the inning with a strikeout. Less than 15 minutes later, in the bottom of the sixth inning with the threat of darkness looming to end the game, Fauske stepped up again.

Fauske smacked a 2-1 pitch over the left-center field fence for a grand slam to power the Roadrunners to a 9-3 victory over Benet before a large crowd at R.J. Sanders Field.

The Roadrunners (18-0, 5-0) tacked on two more runs in the sixth for a six-run frame. Fauske then struck out two of the three batters in a 1-2-3 seventh inning to keep Nazareth unbeaten on the season.

Fauske earned the win and smacked his first home run of the season, a towering shot that caused bedlam in the stands, mainly from a large group of Nazareth girls lacrosse players lined up near the fence by the third-base dugout.

Fauske said he kept a basic approach on his grand slam to spoil a strong pitching effort by Benet senior Jake Perrino. The right-hander worked his way out of a few jams before leaving in the top of the fifth with no outs and two runners on base.

“It was a fun game, back and forth,” Fauske said. “It was good to come out on top. The hit felt pretty good. [The Benet] pitcher got down 2-1 with the bases loaded and he was not going to walk in a run, so I knew he was going to give me something to hit. I got my pitch, middle out, and stayed with it. It felt great. It’s been a while since I’ve hit a [homer]. I was due.

“I also felt good [pitching]. I didn’t warm up much, but my arm felt good and I was throwing strikes.”

Benet (9-6, 3-1) almost won the first game of a three-game set against the Roadrunners. The visitors led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-1 through the first four-and-a-half innings until Nazareth exploded for two in the fifth and six in the sixth. The Redwings used three pitchers in the loss and finished with five hits.

“[Nazareth] is a really good team,” Benet coach Scott Lawler said. “I thought our team fought. We just made too many little mistakes, especially toward the middle and the end. You are not going to beat a good team if you do that. If we don’t make a few mistakes here or there, we’re right there in the ballgame. I told the guys not to hang their heads. It’s all correctable. [Nazareth] is a great team.”

Nazareth’s Nick Drtina, also a Louisville recruit, started the rally by belting a two-run double to deep center field to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Landon Thome, the son of Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Thome, closed out the scoring with a two-out, two-run line drive hit to center field in the sixth.

“I was just going up there looking for a fastball and got it and drove it the other way,” Drtina said of his clutch two-run double.

“Benet’s pitcher did a great job and they had good at-bats,” Nazareth coach Lee Milano said. “We battled all game and Jaden came up big at the end.”