Blueboy Pitchers Submit Complete Game Victories over Carroll

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2



JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College baseball team kept its winning streak going on Saturday with an impressive doubleheader sweep of Carroll University, winning by scores of 6-1 and 4-2. Though the teams are both in the Midwest Conference, the Pioneers are in the North Division and therefore the two games do not count toward the conference standings. Nevertheless, the Blueboys received two outstanding pitching performances from seniors D.J. Davis and Dylan Sunderland and the bats came through when they needed to. The Pioneers fell to 7-3 on the season after the two losses, while the Blueboys improved to 8-3.

Illinois College will wrap up a four-game home stand on Friday with a 1 p.m. game against Eureka College at Joe Brooke Baseball Field. Before the game, there will be a field dedication ceremony slated to begin at 12 p.m.

Game One: Illinois College 6, Carroll 1
Two errors loomed large in the game for the Pioneers, as Illinois College scored all six of its runs in the third inning after Carroll miscues kept the inning alive. 

Davis cruised through the first three innings on the mound for IC, allowing only a soft single into left and a walk. The Blueboys didn't have much more to show than that though until things came together in the bottom of the third. Bryce Rooney started the inning off with a single and with one out, the Pioneers committed their first error. A ground ball to second by Austin Dormire could have been the start of a double play, but the Carroll shortstop didn't catch the ball cleanly on the relay and both runners were safe. 

The next batter, Austin Peck, laid down a bunt to move the runners, but was gifted first base after the first baseman failed to haul in the throw from the pitcher. That error brought Rooney in for a 1-0 lead but the Blueboys were far from done. Cain Brady doubled after that, scoring two runs, and after Dalton Kerans walked, Taw Fredrickson hit a double of his own to get Kerans to third and score Brady for a 4-0 edge. A single from Alec Wade followed and both runners came home for a 6-0 cushion after the third.

That was about all the offense that Illinois College would muster, but with Davis dealing, it was all the Blueboys needed. Davis left one runner aboard in the fourth, sat the Pioneers down in order in the fifth, then got some help from his battery-mate in the sixth when Peck picked off a runner at first to bring the inning to a close.

The Pioneers went down in order once again in the seventh and Davis worked around a walk in the eighth to keep the shutout going. Only in the ninth did Carroll manage a run against the senior hurler. A wild pitch helped get a runner to second base and Joe Huss singled into center to break up the shutout with two outs, though Davis regrouped and got Clayton Schmitt to fly out to Parker Murray in center to bring the first game to a close.

Davis ended with six strikeouts against only five hits in the game, improving to 2-1 on the season. Wade ended at 3-for-4 on the afternoon with two RBIs. Dormire, Fredrickson and Rooney also had two hits apiece.

Game Two: Illinois College 4, Carroll 2
It would be hard to match Davis' performance but Sunderland certainly matched him, giving up two runs (one earned) in a complete game victory. This time around, the Blueboys had to play catch-up. Carroll took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning, but three huge runs in the bottom of the eighth kept the Blueboys perfect on their new home field.

Sunderland struck out the side in the first inning and induced three ground ball outs in the second, but the Pioneers got on the board in the third. The lead-off hitter reached on an IC error and two runners eventually got on second and third with one out, leading to a sacrifice fly by Brady Durni for a 1-0 lead. Hunter Frey followed with a single that might have scored another run, but Kerans came up firing out in right and his delivery home was a dart to Peck that erased Arron Buck before he could make it 2-0.

Illinois College got the run back right away in the bottom of the inning. Murray led off the inning with a walk and Dormire singled to put two runners aboard. After Peck moved both of them up on a sac bunt, Brady flied out to left, deep enough to score Murray and make it 1-1.

In the fifth, Carroll took the lead again. The Pioneers had runners on second and third with one out when Jacob Langford lifted a fly ball to right field. Kerans made the catch, but, back-pedaling, couldn't repeat his heroics on the throw, allowing a run to score for a 2-1 lead for the visitors.

For the next few innings, the Blueboys didn't have much in the way of a response. In the fifth, Peck was able to reach on a walk but he was left stranded. IC then went in order in both the sixth and the seventh. With Carroll making the move to the bullpen in the eighth, Illinois College finally got its bats rolling.

With one out in the inning, Peck drew a walk and then moved up to second on a wild pitch. Brady hit a tapper back to the pitcher that Jake Sweet was unable to field cleanly, putting runners on the corners. Kerans then blasted a double to right-center to clear the bases and give the Blueboys a 3-2 advantage. Later in the inning, the bases were loaded for pinch-hitter Connor Melton, who delivered a fly ball to center that scored Kerans to give the Blueboys a 4-2 lead.

In their last turn at the plate, the Pioneers started with back-to-back singles before Sunderland got the next two batters swinging. With two down, a third single loaded the bases and put the tying run 180 feet away, however Sunderland got Buck to fly out to Kerans to end the game and give IC its sixth straight win.

Sunderland struck out seven and walked none in the game, improving to 3-1 on the year. Dormire and Fredrickson paced the offense for the Blueboys with two hits each.