The Aurora University baseball team played host for another doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, this time at Jim Schmid Field in their first Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference games of the 2025 season against Lakeland University. Backed by an 18 run offensive outburst in game one and dominant pitching performance from Mason Ishii on the mound in game two, the Spartans won by a score of 18-3 and 4-2, respectively.


Game One Score: Aurora University 18, Lakeland University 3
Game Two Score: Aurora University 4, Lakeland University 2
Record: Aurora University 7-8 overall and 2-0 NACC; Lakeland University 6-9 overall and 0-2 NACC
Location: Montgomery, Illinois - Jim Schmid Field


Game One
- AU got going in the second when Tyler Patton singled up the middle to score Ryan Buck, before Spencer Ruch drove in Mason Washington to make it 2-0.
- Back-to-back RBI singles from Jaden Holgado and Logan Riley made it 4-0 in favor of the Spartans later in the second.
- Also later in the second, Kyle Mack ripped a two-run single for AU, before Buck came back around in the batting order with an RBI single of his own making it 7-0.
- The rally didn't stop there in the second, as back-to-back run scoring doubles from Riley and Patton gave the Spartans a 10-0 lead going into the third inning.
- In the bottom of the third, Joe Lukancic singled home Holgado for AU, before Mack drove in Lukancic with another RBI double to make it 12-0.
- Patton continued his strong day with a two-run shot over the center field wall in the fourth to give the Spartans a 14-0 lead.
- That lead became 15-0 later in the fourth for AU on a Curcio RBI double.
- Lakeland scored three runs in their half of the fifth to trim the Spartan lead to 15-3.
- AU got those two runs back in the fifth when Curcio ripped another two-run double into the right-center gap.
- In the bottom of the sixth, AU extended their lead to 18-3 when Issac Wendler drove in Carson Faust on a ground out.
- Cory Brock finished off the Muskies in the seventh to secure AU's 18-3 game one victory.
- Justin Zimmerman finished with four scoreless innings in the start on the mound for the Spartans.

Game Two
- In the bottom of the fourth, Tyler Patton broke a scoreless tie when he intentionally got caught into a rundown between first and second, scoring Kyle Mack before the third out was made in the inning.
- In the bottom of the fifth, Jaden Holgado banged a two-run double that scored Spencer Ruch and Mason Washington to make it 3-0 in favor of AU.
- That lead extended to 4-0 for the Spartans in their half of the sixth when Washington hit an RBI single to score Patton.
- AU starter Mason Ishii exited in the seventh after giving up a run to the Muskies, finishing his start of six and two thirds innings of one run ball.
- Despite a run from Lakeland in the top of the eighth, AU pulled away for the 4-2 game two victory.


Game One
HITTING
HITS: Dominick Curcio and Tyler Patton (3)
DOUBLE: Dominick Curcio (2)
TRIPLE: Dominick Curcio (1)
HOME RUN: Tyler Patton (1)
RUNS: Logan Riley (4) and Jaden Holgado (3)
RUNS BATTED IN: Tyler Patton (4), Dominick Curcio and Kyle Mack (3)
STOLEN BASES: Jaden Holgado (1)

PITCHING:
APPEARANCES (innings): Justin Zimmerman (4.0), Cory Brock (2.0) and Brayden Thompson (1.0)
DECISIONS: Cory Brock (win)
STRIKEOUTS: Cory Brock (4), Justin Zimmerman (3) and Brayden Thompson (1)

Game Two
HITTING
HITS: Kyle Mack (3), Ryan Buck and Matthew Washington (2)
DOUBLE: Jaden Holgado (1)
RUNS: Kyle Mack, Matthew Washington, Spencer Ruch and Tyler Patton (1)
RUNS BATTED IN: Jaden Holgado (2) and Matthew Washington (1)

PITCHING:
APPEARANCES (innings): Mason Ishii (6.2), Adrian Ruiz (1.1) and Conner Hogan (1.0)
DECISIONS: Mason Ishii (win)
STRIKEOUTS: Mason Ishii, Conner Hogan and Adrian Ruiz (1)