The College of DuPage baseball team continued to show off offensively at home on April 28 in a doubleheader against Moraine Valley Community College. Capitalizing on the wind while batting, the Chaparrals shut down the Cyclones on defense. COD kept the heat on Moraine and took the first game 13-3 in five innings.
The Chaps looked to end game two early, but the Cyclones fought to tie it 6-6 in the seventh inning. Moraine’s pitcher walked the first three batters at the bottom of the seventh, and Filip Milatovic got the winning hit to send a runner home and win 7-6. This sweep brings COD’s record to 22-16.
“It was another good day,” assistant coach Matt Gould said. “We’ve been playing good baseball. It’s very tough to win baseball games. I tried to tell the guys before the game that winning games in a row with only a loss here or there and getting these win streaks going is very hard to do. It requires a lot of focus. The second game was a little closer. We had to win on a walk-off, but we stayed in the game in terms of how mentally locked in we were. That’s what kept us in it long enough to sneak out that second win.”
Milatovic, a sophomore catcher, continued his offensive hot streak through both games. He notched his fourth home run of the season in game one, which was his third in three games. At the plate, Milatovic recorded two hits in seven at-bats. He also totaled one run and three RBIs. He said the team’s resiliency is what pushed them to sweep Moraine.
“The first game, we came out firing,” Milatovic said. “It was a good win; we slaughtered them. The second game we came out flat. We could’ve given them the win, but it was a close game at the end. We kept fighting, and we found a way to win. That’s going to help us a lot in the playoffs. Good teams are going to find any way to win, and we just have to keep it up.”
Freshman pitcher Mike Biscan pitched through game one in his fifth start of the season. He threw two strikeouts and two walks but gave up six hits and three runs. Securing his second win of the season, he said it was easy to relax on the mound because COD’s defense was locked in.
“Going into the game, I knew [our] offense was going to be there,” Biscan said. “There was no doubt about that. We hit really well, so I just try to throw it down the middle. I let [the Cyclones] hit it where I knew our guys would make plays. I didn’t have to work too hard.”
Freshman infielder Vinny Spotofora also helped the Chaps on offense, crushing a two-run home run in game two. In six total at-bats, Spotofora recorded one hit and struck out once. He also scored two runs and recorded 5 RBIs. He said he was looking specifically to hit a home run to notch his first of the season.
“It was awesome because I was one of the only kids who hadn’t hit one yet in our starting lineup,” Spotofora said. “It was great to finally hit one. I was trying to. I’m not going to lie. I didn’t think it was out, but the wind took it.”
Freshman outfielder Joe Pender pushed COD offensively and smashed a two-run home run in game one. Including his second home run of the season, Pender secured four hits in five at-bats through both games. He also scored three runs and collected three RBIs. He said as long as the Chaps continue to play with their current consistency, they’ll keep winning games.
“We’ve just got to take it one game at a time,” Pender said. “No matter who we’re playing, just show up. We need to have this [winning] team show up every game.”
The Chaparrals battle the Morton College Panthers at 3 p.m. on April 30 at the COD Baseball Field.
