By: A ninth inning grand slam by Austin Peck gave Illinois College a 6-5 lead, but the Panthers tied the game in the bottom of the ninth and scored in the 10th to win, 7-6.
Box Score
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Illinois College baseball team very nearly took home a stunning victory over Division I opponent Eastern Illinois University on Wednesday, but the Panthers tied the game in the bottom of the ninth and walked off with the game-winning run in the 10th for a 7-6 win. The Blueboys move to 13-10 on the season in defeat.
The game featured a dramatic turnaround in the ninth inning on a grand slam by
Austin Peck. Prior to that, Eastern Illinois took a 2-0 lead in the third inning and increased it to 4-1 in the seventh and 5-2 entering the ninth.
Cain Brady had no trouble with Division I pitching, going 3-for-5 in the game and hitting a ringing two-out double in the top of the first. There was nothing doing for IC from there though and
Tyler Kozaritz took the hill against the Panthers. A lead-off infield single by Joe Duncan put a runner on, but Peck gunned him down as he attempted to steal second.
In the bottom of the third inning, Cale Hennemann and Mitch Gasbarro led off with consecutive doubles for a 1-0 advantage. A groundout and a wild pitch from Kozaritz then allowed Gasbarro to come around from second base to score, making it 2-0 going to the fourth.
The Blueboys got one run back in the top half of the fourth as Brady led off with a single in between short and third base, then advanced on a wild pitch. With two down in the inning,
Anthony Lucchesi singled to put runners on the corners, keeping the inning going for
Connor Melton. Melton hit a line drive that just eluded the glove of Henneman at second to score Brady, slicing the IC deficit in half.
Dylan Jones came in to start the bottom of the fourth and had no trouble with Eastern Illinois in his first inning of work. In the fifth however, Jones hit Gasbarro to start the frame and an error on a pick-off attempt moved the Panther baserunner to second. A single and a sacrifice fly followed, bringing Gasbarro home and making it a 3-1 ballgame through five.
Illinois College couldn't get anything going in the sixth, but reliever
Jared Guizzetti sat down EIU in order. In the seventh, the freshman ran into some trouble as Duncan singled and moved up 90 feet on an error by Brady on the throw over to first. A single by Hennemann followed to bring him in for a 4-1 Panther lead.
With the rain in the area coming down harder and harder, the game continued in spite of the sometimes questionable footing around the field. With one down, Peck doubled to the wall in center and a slow roller by Brady in the hole at shortstop put runner on the corners for
Alec Wade. His grounder past Hennemann at second brought Peck home and made it 4-2. In the bottom half, a Hunter Morris solo home run answered the run scored by the Blueboys to take the teams to the ninth in a 5-2 contest.
In the ninth, Melton and
Bryce Rooney led off with singles and after an EIU pitching change,
Austin Dormire drew a one-out walk to load the bases. That set the stage for Peck. After working the count full, Peck launched a ball over the wall in right-center to put the Blueboys ahead, 6-5.
Needing three outs for the win,
Dentler Loschen entered looking for the save. He got the first EIU hitter he faced on a foul out to left field, but a one-out double by Gasbarro and a single by Matt Dunavant combined for the tying run before Loschen could retire the side.
That sent the game to extra innings and
Taw Fredrickson started things off with a single. Following a sacrifice bunt by
Anthony Lucchesi and a wild pitch, the go-ahead run was on third with one down but EIU hurler Matt Wivinis struck out Melton looking and got Rooney to fly out deep to right.
Jason Scholl started the 10th inning off with a walk for the Panthers, but Loschen retired two hitters without allowing Scholl to advance off of first. Needing only one more out to send the game to the 11th, Duncan singled into left field to put two on, and Hennemann then hit a gapper between center and left to score Scholl and give Eastern Illinois the win.
The Blueboys ended with 12 hits in the game, led by Brady's three, but also getting two hits from Peck, Wade and Melton. Fredrickson, Lucchesi and Rooney had the other hits in the game for IC.
Illinois College will now return home for four crucial Midwest Conference games on Saturday and Sunday at Joe Brooks Field. The Blueboys welcome in Grinnell for the weekend, starting doubleheaders on April 23 at 12 p.m. and April 24 at 10 a.m.
