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Lansing, Ill. – July 6, 2020 – DuPage County kept on rolling to start the 2020 season as the Hounds took care of the Crestwood Panthers, 12-3, at Lansing Old Timers Field in Lansing, Illinois. 

The Hounds improved to 3-0 with the victory as the Panthers dropped to 0-3 on the season. 

“I was not sure what to expect out of the first few games without many practices outside,” DuPage Manager Ben Caple said. “We’re playing good, pitchers are throwing strikes and position players are making the routine plays. I could not be happier with our performance.”

Starting pitcher Ryan Louck (Maryville University / Plainfield, Ill.) struggled early on for the Hounds as Louck allowed two earned runs in the opening inning then eventually settled in after throwing back to back scoreless frames. Overall, Louck finished the day, throwing three innings and struck out five.

“Ryan has been a workhorse for Maryville University for the last couple years at the top of their rotation, he works quick and throws strikes and keeps the ball active,” Caple said. “I’m looking forward to him being in our starting rotation moving forward for the rest of the summer.”

The Hounds were up 3-2 heading to the fifth inning then DuPage County started expanding the game wide open. Aaron Steahely (Iowa Western CC / Sugar Grove, Ill.) opened it with a triple to the gap in right center which scored John San Jule (Columbia University / San Luis Obipso, Calif.) and Ryan Ross (Cornell University / Elmhurst, Ill.) to make it the lead 5-2. 

Crestwood did not have much of an answer for reliever Alex Luka (Babson University / Downers Grove, Ill.) as he came in and threw two shutout frames and recorded three strikeouts.  The Panthers hitters struggled against the Hounds pitching today as DuPage recorded 11 strikeouts.

The Hounds were leading 6-2 heading to the seventh inning as Brandon Petkoff (Texas A&M Corpus Christian / Frankfort, Ill.) started the inning with a double. The next hitter was Jackson Dvorak (Missouri St. Louis / New Lenox, Ill.), who hit a no-doubter to left field, making the game out of reach with a score of 8-2.

“Jackson’s been a workhorse for us, showing leadership on and off the field,” Caple said. “I could not be happier with him on our squad this season.”

Andrew Padilla (Webster University / Burbank, Ill.) closed the game out for the Hounds to secure the victory after striking out two Panthers in the ninth inning. 

DuPage will be back at it Tuesday, July 7 as the Hounds take on the Southland Vikings at Dowling Park in Hammond, Indiana starting at 1 P.M. on the Vikings’ Broadcast Network, The game will be available via Facebook Live.