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Jacobs takes care of Huntley again

There is still a long way to go for a Jacobs baseball team with 11 more games to play in the always-tough Fox Valley Conference, but the first-place Golden Eagles like their upward trajectory following Thursday's 11-6 victory at defending Valley Division co-champion Huntley.

Jacobs rallied from a 5-1 deficit with 2 runs in the third inning, 4 in the fourth and 4 in the fifth. The 14-hit attack helped complete the sweep of the 2-game series. Jacobs (14-5, 8-0) defeated Huntley (11-4-1, 5-2) on Tuesday, 2-1.

"This is really good for us," said Jacobs cleanup hitter Matt Kozlak, who went 3-for-4 with a walk, 2 doubles and 4 RBI. "We're undefeated in the Fox Valley and we want to keep it rolling."

The rivals were tied 1-1 when Huntley slugged its way to a 4-run second inning, keyed by Matt Sullivan's 2-run double and RBI singles from senior Dillon DellAquila and Brandon Altergott. Altergott went 3-for-4 with a double, triple.

Jacobs starting pitcher Tim Hubner (4-1) adjusted after that inning by throwing more inside pitches, which helped him last until the fifth inning, coach Jamie Murray said. That gave his teammates the opportunity to rally, and they were happy to oblige.

"We never think we're out of a game," said Jacobs No. 5 hitter Danny Vandewalker, who finished 4-for-5 with 4 RBI. "With the kind of talent we have on our team, we think we can come back in any game."

The Golden Eagles trimmed the deficit to 5-3 in the third inning, thanks to Vandewalker's 2-run single to left field.

Jacobs then stormed to a 7-5 lead in the fourth, helped by consecutive Huntley errors at third base and shortstop to open the inning. The misplays undermined reliever Kyle Sabie (2-1), who yielded 4 runs in the frame, none earned. Huntley committed 3 errors in the game.

"It's uncharacteristic of us to give up 6 unearned runs, and they took advantage," Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. "We can't give a good team like Jacobs extra outs. Unfortunately for us, they turned them into hits and extended innings and scored some runs."

Jacobs took full control in the fifth inning with 4 more runs on 5 consecutive hits. Kozlak doubled to the right-center field gap to make it 8-5, Vandewalker and Owen Oreskovich followed with RBI singles and Hubner drove in the 11th run with a safety squeeze bunt.

Hubner allowed a run in the fifth, but Jacobs relief pitcher Tyler Brown entered and held the Red Raiders scoreless for the final 2⅔ innings on 1 hit and 1 walk.

"We knew coming in that they wanted to take us out," Murray said of the Red Raiders. "I'm just proud of the guys, the way they worked together. We got the right hits, we were aggressive first to third and we put a lot of pressure on their outfielders to make plays at the plate."

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