By: Three huge innings from the Blueboys were more than enough to ease past the Eagles in a non-conference matchup.
Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Behind 12 strikeouts from Blueboy pitching and three innings with three or more runs, the Illinois College baseball team stormed to an 11-3 win over Robert Morris University-Springfield on Monday afternoon. The Blueboys improve to 7-10 on the season in advance of their opening Midwest Conference games of the season later this week.
Illinois College opened up a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a RBI single from
Zac Schopp after
Jonathan Schrage and
Collin Dooley had reached base.
Nick Dalfonso then scored Schopp and Dooley with two away in the inning on a single to left field to make it 3-0 for IC starting pitcher
Dylan Jones.
Jones faced the minimum for the first three innings and the Blueboys went back to work on offense in the top of the fourth. Dooley and Schopp were both on base for
Connor Melton, who laid down a sacrifice bunt but reached on an error by the Robert Morris pitcher. His throwing error to first allowed both runners to score for a 5-0 advantage.
Austin Dormire then singled with two outs in the inning to make it 6-0 for IC.
The Eagles put two on base in the fourth inning, but a double play and a strikeout from Jones helped end that threat. They then loaded the bases with one down in the fifth, but Jones baffled two Robert Morris hitters, striking them out looking and taking the game into the sixth.
When the first two hitters of the sixth for Robert Morris reached base, Jones was lifted for
Dylan Sunderland. The Eagles ended up with a pair of runs that inning to close the gap, but Sunderland struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to maintain a four-run lead for the Blueboys.
Illinois College put the game away in the eighth inning.
Dalton Kerans was hit by a pitch to start it off and Schrage singled to put two aboard.
Matt Jagodzinski then doubled down the right field line to score Kerans for a 7-2 lead. An error from Robert Morris brought Schrage in for an 8-2 edge and Schopp doubled to up the margin to 10-2 with still no outs in the frame. Melton ended up scoring Schopp on a RBI groundout to make it 11-2 going to the bottom of the eighth.
The Eagles put one more run on the board in the eighth to cut it to an 11-3 game, but
Zack Hanlon continued the IC trend in the ninth inning, striking out two of the three hitters he faced and providing the Blueboys with a quick outing to close it out.
Schopp ended the game 3-for-4 at the dish with three RBIs and three runs scored. Dormire, Schrage and Jagodzinski all had a pair of hits for IC.
Jones improved his record to 2-1 on the year, going five innings and striking out six hitters. Sunderland struck out four Eagles in his three innings of relief.
Illinois College welcomes in Cornell College on April 9 and 10 for a pair of MWC doubleheaders at Lenz Field. The Blueboys and Rams begin the series on Thursday with two games beginning at 1 p.m.
