By: Trailing 5-2 going into the 9th inning, Eureka scored four runs to battle back and claim a 6-5 win over IC.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College baseball team celebrated a milestone on Friday afternoon with the official dedication of Joe Brooks Baseball Field, but after eight innings that did nothing to curtail the mood around the park, Eureka stunned the partisan home crowd with four runs in the top of the 9th to defeat the Blueboys, 6-5. The loss snaps IC's six-game winning streak and sends the Blueboys to 8-4 on the season. The Red Devils improved to 3-9 with the victory.
The top of the first inning got off to a bumpy start for Illinois College starter
D.J. Davis and the Blueboys. With two on and two outs, Ray Vogel singled back up the middle to score two runs and give Eureka the early lead.
Davis settled down and got out of the 2nd inning easily, as did reliever
Dylan Sunderland in the 3rd inning. Illinois College then halved the deficit in the bottom of the 3rd after
Austin Dormire reached on an error by the Eureka second baseman.
Austin Peck followed Dormire with a ringing double to right-center to make it 2-1.
The Blueboys got to Eureka starter John Kurtz again in the 4th inning. With one down,
Connor Melton singled down the first base line and
Bryce Rooney got on base behind him. A sac bunt from
Parker Murray put both men in scoring position with two down, but as it turned out it wouldn't have mattered. A Dormire triple to left-center allowed both runners to coast in for a 3-2 lead through four complete.
After a scoreless 5th inning, the Blueboys scored another run in the 6th when Kurtz balked with men on second and third. Kurtz was lifted with a runner on and one out in the 8th, but reliever Nick Finey struggled early on, giving up a single to Melton to put two men on. When the Blueboys attempted a double steal, Eureka catcher Grant Mullin sailed his throw to third into the outfield and
Alec Wade came in to give IC a 5-2 lead going to the 9th.
That's when the wheels came off for the Blueboys. Melton entered in the 9th after designated hitting throughout the game up to that point. After a lead-off single, Wyatt Froehling doubled to the gap in right-center, only to have the lead runner gunned down at home off a relay throw from Rooney to Peck for the first out. With one out and one on, pinch-hitter Max Marcoux reached on a slow chopper to second base and a walk then loaded the bases. A groundout by Grant Mullin provided the second out, but also scored a run to make it 5-3 with the tying run on second.
The third batter in the Eureka lineup, Nick Passini, was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs and put the go-ahead run on base. Cleanup hitter Seth Aydt followed with a double to left that brought all three runners in for a 6-5 lead.
The Blueboys did have a chance in the bottom of the 9th after Dormire took advantage of an error by Passini to reach first. Peck bunted the senior lead-off hitter over to second with one out, but Finney retired
Cain Brady and
Anthony Lucchesi to end it and pick up the win.
Melton took the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season in his pitching role. At the plate, the sophomore was 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Peck was the other IC hitter with more than one hit on the afternoon, going 2-for-4 with a RBI.
Illinois College will look to shake this one off quickly when it goes on the road to face Principia College in Elsah, Ill. on March 29. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
