By: Following a 6-3 win in the opener, the Blueboys were on the comeback trail in the second game before lightning strikes halted play. The game was eventually called with Knox holding on for a 7-6 victory.
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JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Bad weather has altered the Illinois College spring schedules across all sports for the past two months, so why would it be any different on Senior Day at Joe Brooks Field? In the final home contests of the 2017-18 calendar year for the IC athletic department, the Blueboy baseball team hung a 6-3 defeat on Knox College to open Sunday's doubleheader, but an IC rally in the second game came up short as lightning in the area stopped play before the start of the seventh inning. As lightning continued to strike, resetting the 30-minute waiting period, the umpires made the decision to end the game with Knox on top, 7-6.
Before the start of the doubleheader, Illinois College celebrated Senior Day for outfielder
Robbie Cooper, pitcher
Ethan Crain, pitcher
Dylan Jones, and infielder
Drew Law. After the games ended, the crowd was forced inside to King Fieldhouse where a ceremony was held for
Jay Eckhouse as he wraps up his 17-year career as head coach of the Blueboys. The split on Sunday left Illinois College with a 17-17 record for the season.
Things aren't quite done yet for Illinois College. Due to other results around the Midwest Conference, the Blueboys need to pick up where they left off with a postponed contest against Grinnell College. On April 8, IC held a 5-2 lead on the Pioneers when the game was delayed. With seeding for the MWC Tournament on the line, IC and Grinnell will meet tomorrow to play out the remainder of the game. The contest will start at 4:30 p.m. at Monmouth College.
Game One: Illinois College 6, Knox 3
Dylan Jones ended his college career with a complete game, striking out nine in nine innings to tie the Illinois College single-season strikeout record with 71 and improve to 7-3 overall on the year.
Scott Kasting drove in five of the six Blueboy runs to help establish an early lead.
In the bottom of the first inning,
Joe Paparelli singled to lead off the frame and
Austin Gusewelle was hit by a pitch. Each then stole a bag, putting them in scoring position as Kasting hit a sacrifice fly to center. Paparelli came home on the fly ball and Gusewelle was also able to advance to third, allowing a fly ball off the bat of
Brennan Bergstralh to bring him home for a 2-0 lead after one.
Knox was able to nick one run off of Jones in the top of the third, but Kasting had a quick response, blasting a three-run home run to left-center. That made it a 5-1 ballgame as Paparelli and Gusewelle scored on the play.
One run from the Prairie Fire in both the fourth and fifth innings brought the visitors to within 5-3, but Kasting again was able to extend the lead and give the Blueboys some breathing room. His double with two outs in the bottom of the fifth scored Gusewelle yet again, making it 6-3.
Jones cruised from there. Working quickly against a swing-happy Knox lineup, the senior from Jacksonville induced a groundout to end the sixth with a runner in scoring position. The Prairie Fire hit into three quick groundouts in the seventh. The eighth inning ended on a 4-6-3 double play ball. After requiring only three pitches to get the first two outs of the ninth, Jones finally got the strikeout he needed to end the game. His ninth of the day gave him 71 for the season to tie D.J. Davis' record set in 2016.
Paparelli ended with three hits, while Gusewelle scored three of the Blueboy runs. Kasting was 2-for-3 in the game.
Daniel Reed had IC's only other hit.
Game Two: Knox 7, Illinois College 6 (6 innings)
A fast start by Knox was the difference in the second game. The Prairie Fire led, 4-0, after the first inning and extended it to 6-1 after four. Illinois College made a valiant comeback attempt and got within a run after the sixth inning when play was stopped.
Dentler Loschen took the hard-luck loss, falling to 2-3 on the year.
The Prairie Fire collected five hits in the top of the first inning. After putting three on the board already, the fourth and final run came in on an Illinois College error. Despite a two-out triple from Kasting in the bottom of the inning, IC was unable to answer back.
The Blueboys dented the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. With Gusewelle on third base, a Cooper RBI single made it 4-1. Knox hit back for two unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning to grow the lead to 6-1.
With Bergstralh and Kasting in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth, Cooper came up with another important base knock, driving them both in to make it 6-3. The Prairie Fire again used an unearned run in the top of the sixth to make it 7-3.
The Blueboys wouldn't know it, but the bottom of the sixth turned out to be their last turn at the plate.
Houston Kruse started out the inning with a triple down the line. He was scored by Law on a RBI groundout to make it 7-4. After consecutive walks to Paparelli and Gusewelle, Knox went to the bullpen. Kasting gave Mario Fusco a rude introduction to the contest with a single that brought Paparelli home for a 7-5 ballgame. Bergstralh followed with a single into left field to score Gusewelle, drawing IC within a run, 7-6, before Fusco was able to retire Cooper and Jones to end the inning.
That's when lightning interrupted play and after a delay of nearly an hour, the decision was made to call the game entirely. Knox wraps up its season at 11-24 (3-16 MWC). The Blueboys, 17-17 on the season overall, slid to 7-11 in MWC play.
