A strong arm prevented the Raiders from picking up a season sweep against St. Charles. After sweeping St. Charles in March, and then winning Tuesday's opener 10-3, Three Rivers College lost the nightcap 5-1 after St. Charles pitcher Jake Stoker threw 147 pitches in a complete-game, 9-inning win. "I thought his fastball was as good in the last inning as it was at any time during the game," Three Rivers coach Stacey Burkey said. "Sometimes that happens. You run into a good arm and we'll continue to see that the rest of the way." The Raiders (14-18, 7-11 Region XVI) scattered four hits against Stoker, who also walked three and struck out nine. Ryan Hunter scored the Raiders' only run in the fourth inning after a leadoff walk. He took second on a passed ball, moved to third on a fly out, and Ty Gordon hit an RBI groundout. It tied the game at 1-all, where the score held until St. Charles scored two runs in the seventh off an error and a wild pitch. The Raiders got runners on first and second with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh, but Stoker got a strikeout, and Gordon was thrown out trying to score on an infield grounder.

"We weren't able to get anything out of that, weren't able to get a bunt down and move runners and all that. It was just a tough game. They played well," Burkey said. Stoker than got his seventh strikeout of the game to get out of the inning. St. Charles (5-23, 3-17) then tacked on a run in the eighth and ninth innings.

Gordon (0-2) pitched in the loss for the Raiders. He threw 6 1/3 innings and allowed five hits and a walk with six strikeouts. The Raiders made two errors and the Cougars had none. The script was flipped in the opener, when St. Charles made five errors and Three Rivers had none. Three Rivers scored two runs in each of the first three innings, then put up four in the fourth to take a 10-1 lead. Gordon had a two-run homer in the fourth and was 3 for 4 with a run and four RBIs in the game. Stalling scored twice, as did Landon Vaughan and Grant Miller. Five of Three Rivers' 10 runs were unearned.

Tyler McLevain (4-1) threw 107 pitches in the complete-game win. He allowed seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts. McLevain, who leads the Raiders in innings pitched, has given the injury ravaged team a complete game in four of his past five starts, with four wins. Blaze Speas returned to the lineup for the first time since March 26, when Three Rivers first played St. Charles. "He's not 100 percent. He was a little tender from the first inning of the first game, but he gutted it out," Burkey said. After missing six games, he had a hit and a run Tuesday. Even with his addition, the Raiders have almost no depth. Three Rivers will take 17 players to Crowder — 10 hitters and seven pitchers — this weekend for its fourgame series. The only position with a backup player is catcher. "We may see guys in positions they haven't normally been in because of our depth," Burkey said. "With our position players, we have one extra hitter." Burkey added that players are taking reps in multiple positions in practice, including hitters pitching and pitchers hitting, in order to prepare for a worst possible scenario.