CHICAGO, Ill. - Despite rallying for six runs in the bottom of the 9th the TIU Baseball team came up short on Thursday, suffering an 8-6 road defeat to St. Xavier University.

The Cougars jumped out to an early lead on Thursday, scoring the games first 8 runs during the opening 4 innings of the game.

The Trojans continued to battle and would not go down without a fight, shutting out the Cougars during the final 5 innings. After keeping the Cougars off the scoreboard the Trojans bats came to life in the top of the 9th, but despite a ferocious six run rally the early SXU lead was too much to overcome.

Jio Ledesma, Andrew Stout, Julius Torres, and Luis Henriquez all picked up RBI's in the inning, with Torres driving in a pair of runs. Matt Pierson yet again led the way for TIU, going 3-4 in the loss.

The Trojans will host SXU in their home opener tomorrow at 1 and 3 PM.