WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's baseball took a break from conference play to finish up the four-game series with IU Columbus on Tuesday afternoon. The Lancers led throughout both games on their way to completing the season sweep, taking the doubleheader 5-2 and 21-3.

Grace scored at least one run in its first three at bats of the opener to take an early 4-0 lead.

Maximo De Leon worked a leadoff walk and later stole second. He moved into further scoring position on a passed ball before scoring on an RBI groundout out from Matt Friesema.

An inning later, Gabriel Maldonado launched a home run to start the frame. Sean Gannon and Carter Stogsdill followed with back-to-back singles with Stogsdill scoring on a passed ball to increase the lead.

The third inning saw the home team score its fourth run. Friesema reached on an error and was driven in by Jose Ayala to make it 4-0.

IU Columbus cut the deficit in half over the next two innings, but the Lancers tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning.

Grace loaded the bases in a bit of an unorthodox way. A dropped third strike allowed the first runner to reach safely. The next runner reached after a hit by pitch and the third runner added a bunt single. Friesema picked up the RBI by hit by pitch to make the score read 5-2.

From there, head coach Ryan Roth went to his closer to seal the victory. Hunter Schumacher pitched the top of the seventh to nail down his second save of the year.

Parker Newby was dominant on the mound, going six innings to earn the win. He allowed just one hit and two runs while fanning 10 on the afternoon.

Five different Lancers recorded a hit and two others produced five walks. De Leon provided 3 walks, 2 stolen bases and 1 run. Stogsdill finished with 2 stolen bases, 1 hit and 1 run.

The second game of the twinbill featured an abundance of offense from the home team. The Lancer lineup smacked 19 hits which led to 21 runs in the finale.

The game was scoreless after one full inning, but Grace used two crooked innings to take full control of the game.

Maldonado clubbed his second homer of the day to start the scoring in the second. Six of the next seven batters reached base safely, leading to four more runs. De Leon and Dalton Cody added a single and an RBI double, respectively. A dropped fly ball allowed both of them to score and Ayala finished the two-out rally with an RBI single.

Grace added three more runs the next inning, making it 8-1 after three. Gannon started the third with a double and his courtesy runner touched home after an RBI single from Stogsdill. Later, Cody provided a two-run blast.

The bottom of the fourth turned the game on its head with the Lancers scoring 13 runs, all with two outs, to take a commanding 21-1 lead. Five walks, nine hits and some wild pitching contributed to the crooked number on the scoreboard. Of those nine hits, three went for extra bases.

IU Columbus plated two runs in its last at bat, but the game was firmly in control with the final score reading 21-3 at the end.

Every player that recorded a plate appearance reached base safely at least once. Four players recorded multi-hit games. Cody led the way with 5 hits, 8 RBIs and 3 runs. Stogsdill added 3 hits, 3 RBIs, 3 runs, 1 walk and a stolen base. Maldonado picked up 2 hits, 2 RBIs, 3 runs and 2 walks.

The pitching staff was stingy once again with Kyle Showley and Kyle Reinartz combining for nine strikeouts while scattering five hits and three runs over the course of seven innings.

Grace will jump back into league play later in the week with a pair of doubleheaders at Goshen on March 29-30, starting at 1 p.m.