JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College baseball team regrouped after trailing Fontbonne University, 2-0, after the top of the second inning. Starting with a run in the bottom of the second, IC proceeded to score in six of its next seven turns at the plate and won going away, 11-2. The Blueboys move over .500 for the first time this season at 8-7, while the Griffins drop to 14-4.
Other than a tough second inning that saw Fontbonne score a pair of runs off of four singles,
Logan Love was mostly in command in 6.0 innings, picking up his first career win for Illinois College while striking out five.
Tim Sommerfeld spurred the IC comeback, driving in
Grant Argyilan in the bottom of the second to cut the Fontbonne lead in half.
Brendan Stanfield doubled in the bottom of the third, scoring
Scott Kasting to tie the game at 2-2. Sommerfeld then added another RBI in the bottom of the fourth, scoring Argyilan once again to give the Blueboys the lead for good. Before the inning was done, a
Bailey Reed single would bring Sommerfeld and
Joe Paparelli home for a 5-2 advantage.
In the sixth inning, a Reed solo bomb out to center field made it 6-2. Later in the inning,
Mason Durdel drove in Stanfield. The nail in the coffin was a
Dillon Hallemann bases-clearing double in the bottom of the seventh to grow the Illinois College lead to 10-2. Reed added one last RBI with a scorched line drive down the third-base line to bring Sommerfeld home in the bottom of the eighth.
Jake Schippert, Hallemann and
Kole Lowry each worked one inning of relief to shut down the Griffins late in the contest. Reed ended the day 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Sommerfeld was 3-for-5 with two RBIs, while Kasting was 3-for-6. Stanfield was 2-for-3 at the plate along with three walks.
Illinois College travels north to face Beloit College in a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 12 p.m.
