STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – La Roche baseball returned to play on Monday night to take on Franciscan in a non-conference doubleheader. Game one would go 11 innings, with the Redhawks coming away victorious, while in game two the La Roche bats were on fire early, helping earn the sweep.
GAME ONE: La Roche 11 Franciscan 8 F/11
La Roche would hit the board first in the top of the second, as a two RBI single by Larry Bielawski made it 2-0.
Franciscan would cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the second, but Brandon Snyder's solo home run in the top of the third pushed the lead back to two.
The Barons would tie the game in the bottom of the third on a two RBI single, then in the top of the fourth, Josh Dreyer delivered an RBI single to give the lead back to La Roche.
Franciscan took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three on a two RBI double and RBI single, but Dimitri Gary belted a two-run homer in the top of the sixth to ties the game again, 6-6.
The Barons would take the lead right back in the bottom of the sixth with another two RBI double and then in the top of the seventh, Christian Melendez hit the third Redhawk homer of the game, another two-run shot to tie the score at 8-8.
It wasn't until the top of the 11th where Snyder delivered an RBI single to give the lead back to the red and white, then Andy Sopata punctuated the game one win with the third, two-run home run of the game.
Caden Maffit got the start and in the no decision went three innings, allowing three runs, four hits, two walks and one strikeout.
Eiramzared Rivera and Samuel DiCicco combined to throw three innings, allowing five runs, five hits, two walks and one strikeout by Rivera.
Jared Hough earned the victory, throwing five innings, allowing just three hits and walked two.
Offensively, La Roche picked up 12 hits, led by Snyder, Bielawski, Gary and Ricky Heyz, who all had two hits each.
GAME TWO: La Roche 10 Franciscan 4
La Roche dominated game two, doing so by posting an eight spot in the top of the second inning.
Danny McCaffrey's two RBI single opened the on slot, followed by a Brady Angus RBI single and a Tyler Smith bases loaded walk to make it 4-0.
Andy Sopata conlcuded the eight-run frame with a grand slam, his second homer of the twin-bill.
Franciscan responded with a single run in the bottom of the second with a wild pitch, then the Redhawks upped the lead in the top of the fourth on a Baron wild pitch, as well as in the fifth inning, when Schmitt closed the red and white's scoring in the game with an RBI single.
Bryson Bubb got the start and in the victory, tossed 4.1 innings, allowing four runs, four hits, five walks and three strikeouts.
Colin Riordan closed the game allowing just a hit, one walk and struck out one in 2.2 innings.
Offensively, La Roche ended with 11 hits, led by McCaffrey's 3-for-4 outing.
The Redhawks will bring the 2025 season to a close and look to end the year with a three-game winning streak, when they take on Westminster on Friday, May 2. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m.