By: Home runs by Cain Brady and Anthony Lucchesi helped Illinois College to a run-rule, 11-1 victory at Principia on Tuesday night.
Box Score
ELSAH, Ill. – The Illinois College baseball team took an early lead on Principia College on Tuesday night, then added seven runs in the middle innings to complete an 11-1 victory in seven innings, ending the game early after establishing a 10-run lead in the seventh. The win moves IC to 9-4 on the season ahead of its first matchup with a Division I opponent this weekend.
The Blueboys jumped on top early with two runs in the top of the first inning.
Austin Dormire started it off with a single and stolen base, then
Austin Peck moved him to third with a single of his own. A
Cain Brady double followed to bring both runners in to make it 2-0. A lead-off home run by Connor Coyne halved IC's lead in the bottom of the first, but 2-1 was as close as the Panthers would get the rest of the way.
After a scoreless second inning, Illinois College added onto its lead in the third. Brady and
Taw Fredrickson were aboard with one out and both came around to score on an
Alec Wade double, increasing the lead to 4-1.
Dylan Jones cruised through the bottom of the third and the fourth with the three-run lead still intact. The bats picked back up in the fifth with a lead-off home run by Brady to make it 5-1. A two-out rally then commenced as
Connor Melton singled to move Fredrickson to third base and
Bryce Rooney singled to score him from 90 feet away, upping the advantage to 6-1. The bases were then loaded against relief pitcher Parker Tibbetts and a Dormire single plated two more before the inning was through.
In the bottom of the fifth, Principia put runners on second and third with two outs, but Peck picked off Alex Stamos on a throw down to Fredrickson at third to end the inning and put Jones in line for the win.
The Blueboys tacked on another run in the sixth on balk call. In the seventh, Rooney led off with a single and
Anthony Lucchesi smashed a two-run shot that made it 11-1. The Panthers loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh against relief pitcher
Tyler Kozaritz, but the sophomore induced a weak pop-up to Wade at first to end the game.
Brady led the IC offense with four hits in the game, driving in three runs and scoring three times. Dormire added three hits and two RBIs and Fredrickson and Rooney each had two hits as well. Jones moved to 1-0 on the season, giving up three hits and one run over 5.0 innings while striking out five.
Illinois College will next face Bradley University in a 2 p.m. game on April 2. The Blueboys and Braves will play at Dozer Park, the home of the single-A Peoria Chiefs.
