Late-Inning Surge Pushes Blueboys Past Principia

Box Score
ELSAH, Ill. – The Illinois College baseball team took a brief step away from Midwest Conference play and earned an 8-3 road victory at Principia College on Tuesday night. The Blueboys, behind seven strong innings from Dylan Jones (4-2), improved to 10-8 on the year.

After two scoreless innings to start the game, Illinois College got on the board in the top of the third thanks to a one-out triple from Austin Gusewelle and a Grant Argyilan single. That was quickly answered in the bottom of the frame on a Principia RBI double, knotting the score at 1-1.

In the top of the fifth, the Blueboys got on top again. With Joe Paparelli on third and two outs, Brendan Stanfield doubled home the sophomore to make it 2-1. Daniel Reed then singled in Stanfield to increase it to a 3-1 advantage. Principia cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fifth on a lead-off triple and sacrifice fly, shrinking the IC lead back to 3-2.

The Blueboys began to pull away after a pitching change in the seventh inning. Argyilan scored Paparelli with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. Then, with Gusewelle on third, Reed homered to make it 6-2. 

Jones induced his second double play of the night to quickly get out of the seventh inning and bring the Illinois College bats back up to the plate. Tim Sommerfeld and Colin Edwards each came around to score in the eighth for an 8-2 lead. 

An error by the IC defense in the eighth allowed an unearned run to come around and score against reliever Ethan Crain, but he got out of the inning with an 8-3 lead, and then worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close it out and secure the win for the Blueboys.

IC pounded out 13 hits in the ballgame, with Gusewelle, Stanfield, Reed, Scott Kasting and Sommerfeld all collecting two apiece. 

Illinois College goes on the road this weekend for a four-game set with Cornell College on April 14 and 15. The first of two doubleheaders starts on April 14 at 11 a.m. in Mount Vernon, Iowa.