From University of Chicago Athletics

Brenton Villasenor kept batters off balance and Josh Parks smacked a home run in the University of Chicago baseball team's 4-1 win against University of Wisconsin-Superior on Saturday night.

The Maroons (9-4 record) won their fourth-straight game while also dealing the Yellowjackets (2-10) their fourth loss in-a-row. The contest was played under the lights at Curtis Granderson Stadium on the campus of University of Illinois-Chicago.

The visitors started strong with a leadoff double down the left field line to start the game. A triple two batters later made the score 1-0. But that would end up being all that the Yellowjackets would get the rest of the way.

Villasenor excelled once again on the mound, as the sophomore pitcher locked in after the first inning. The righthander initiated weak contact all evening, mixing a plethora of pitches and locations to frustrate batters. Several dribblers went less than 10 feet as Villasenor allowed his defense to make plays both in front and behind him.

UChicago struggled initially with UWS starting pitcher Grant Schneider, whose pitches consistently ran away from righties and prevented batted balls from finding holes. Sophomore outfielder Connor Hickey singled and stole second base to setup the tying run in the bottom of the third. Sophomore catcher Ian Bohn delivered with a single to left field to knot the score at 1-1.

The sixth inning proved pivotal. An error and a single got UChicago going, and sophomore designated hitter Brady Sarkon lifted a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Bohn. Immediately afterwards, Parks crushed a two-run bomb down the right field line that easily cleared the fence. It marked the second home run of the season for the sophomore outfielder.

With a 4-1 lead in hand, Villasenor kept rolling and pitched eight innings. He improved his season record to 4-0 with a miniscule 0.75 ERA. Freshman Arno Curtis came in to nail down the save in the ninth inning. His nasty curveball befuddled the Yellowjackets as Curtis struck out all three batters he faced.

UChicago was held to five hits in the contest. Parks hit 2-for-3, while Hickey was 1-for-2 with two walks.