Bulldogs let three-run lead slip away

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BATAVIA -- Batavia baseball coach Matt Holm has been doing everything he can to try to shake up a struggling team the past few days.

On Saturday, he started six bench players and the Bulldogs responded with a nonconference road win at Plainfield Central.

On Tuesday, Holm shook up the lineup, moving four regulars around and Batavia took the first game of a three-game Western Sun Conference series from Glenbard South on the road.

But in the fifth and sixth innings of Game 2 of the series, the Bulldogs reverted to the form that saw them struggle in recent weeks against Kaneland and Geneva.

The Bulldogs coughed up a three-run lead in a 12-4 loss that left them shaking their collective heads afterward. The Raiders scored three runs in the fifth to tie the game against Batavia ace Jordan Coffey and plated six unearned runs in the sixth to break the game wide open.

"It's pretty disappointing, honestly," Coffey said. "It just seemed like we just had another one of those days. I'm sure we'll be able to come back with (junior Brian Krolikowski) on the mound tomorrow and will be able to get a W, but it's something you don't want to see. We're trying to keep things positive, but it's tough when things like this happen."

Batavia (14-10 overall, 9-8 WSC) took a 4-1 lead in the fourth when Holm's lineup changes paid some dividends.

Brian Brandenburg, who flip-flopped with Mike Sentman from the second to sixth spot in the lineup, doubled in courtesy runner Mike Maloney and scored on Krolikowski's two-run home run. Krolikowski and Shane Holl swapped spots, with Holl batting cleanup and Krolikowski seventh.

"We've been waiting for Brian to get his swing going," Holm said. "That's why we moved him to the seven hole, so he could be a little more patient."

That lead evaporated in the fifth as Coffey (5-2) lost his control. He walked two and hit another to load the bases for one of the conference's most deadly hitters, catcher Joe Biagini, who promptly delivered a bases-clearing double to tie the game at 4.

"With a three-run lead, you're just trying to get outs," Coffey said. "I had two strikes on him, I just hung a slider outside and he went with it. I just lost my spot or something, because I was cruising through the first couple."

Biagini struck again in the sixth, crushing a three-run home run, his eighth homer of the season for the Raiders (16-10, 11-6).

"He's been on fire all season long," Glenbard South coach Mike Riley said. "He's not going to get cheated, even if you get two strikes on him. He's a smart hitter."

That was enough offense for crafty Raiders lefty Tony Scotellaro (6-2), who kept Batavia off-balance and scoreless the final three innings. Surviving with an average curveball and a devastating changeup, Scotellaro struck out only three, but walked only one to earn the win.

The game was originally scheduled to be played at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva and be Batavia's Senior Night, but the game was moved back to Batavia due to the threat of rain. Senior Night has been moved to May 19 against Wheaton North at Elfstrom at 4:30 p.m.

Baseball: Glenbard South 12, Batavia 4