Stevenson hangs on against Glenbrook South

This was a game of two halves.

Stevenson got the better of it and was able to hang on to defeat host Glenbrook South 4-3 in a nonconference baseball game on Tuesday.

"We played pretty well the first half, and they played really well in the second half," said Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca, whose Patriots improved to 3-0. "We were lucky to get away with a win because we did not play a complete baseball game."

Stevenson was leading 4-0 until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Titans scored 3 runs on 1 hit.

In the bottom of the sixth, Glenbrook South made it to the scoreboard as winning pitcher Tyler Radtke struck out the first batter and then walked the next two batters.

Cody Libman drove in the first run with a base hit, Todd Moylan walked and pinch hitter Mike Mullinex reached on an error to make the score 4-3.

Blake Fiedelman came in and struck out pinch hitter Kevin Denzel for the final out.

In the bottom of the seventh and one out, Cody Stevens (2 hits) singled to right and Luke Harrison flew out to center field for the second out.

Guinane hit a groundball toward second base, but the ball glanced off the umpire's leg.

After the coaches and umpires conferred for almost 10 minutes to decide what to do, it was ruled a dead-ball hit and Stevens was awarded second base.

Fiedelman was able to compose himself and get the final out on a groundball.

"I'm just happy that the umpires got the rule right," Mazzuca said. "That's why I always carry a rule book with me."

Radtke (1-0) was outstanding through the first 5 innings, before giving e up 2 unearned runs in the sixth. He struck out 10, walked three and hit a batter.

He also helped himself on defense by twice picking a runner off first base.

"Tyler is tough to hit," Mazzuca said. "His command was off and he threw a lot of pitches today. For him to get better, he needs to get a better command of his pitches."

Kory Cutler (2 hits) slammed a first-inning home run over the left-field fence and the Patriots scored single runs in the second, third and sixth innings to take a 4-0 lead.

Cutler also scored in the second on a grounder.

Teddy Heiser led off the second with the first of his 2 doubles and Alex Daar singled him in.

In the sixth, Erick King doubled and Heiser doubled him in for the final Patriot run.

Shawn Michols was the losing pitcher. He pitched 5 innings, gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, struck out two and walked two.

"You're disappointed with every loss," Titans coach Bob Rosinski said. "Especially this one, when we gave them some runs early and they gave up runs late. We struck out 11 times, which means we didn't put a lot of pressure on their fielders."