JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College baseball team was locked into a close game with MacMurray College for four innings, but a sloppy defensive game from the Highlanders combined with some explosive Blueboy offense led to a 19-4 win in eight innings for IC on Tuesday afternoon. The Blueboys improve to 11-12 on the season, while the Highlanders drop to 4-18.
Illinois College struck first, putting three on the board in the top of the first inning thanks to a three-run bomb from
Colin Dearing that brought
Dillon Hallemann and
Bailey Reed home. The lead was 4-1 in the top of the fourth after
Joe Paparelli singled in
Brennan Bergstralh, but MacMurray answered back with two runs in the bottom half with a RBI double from Alec Taylor to make it 4-3.
The Blueboys took over from there as the MacMurray pitching staff struggled to locate the zone. In the top of the fifth, Illinois College scored four runs on a combination of two hits, two walks and two hit batters. The first run was scored on a wild pitch as Reed raced home. After that,
Brendan Stanfield was hit to drive in a run for a 6-3 lead.
Tim Sommerfeld made it 8-3 by the end of the inning with a single that drove in Stanfield and
Eli Fox.
The game was 8-4 heading into the seventh when two runs came in on a MacMurray error. With the Blueboys out in front by six runs, Dearing smoked a double down the left field line to increase it 12-4 going to the seventh-inning stretch. The nail in the coffin came in the eighth inning. Illinois College had five hits and the Highlanders committed three errors as the Blueboys put seven runs on the board. RBIs in the inning came from Hallemann, Fox,
Grant Argyilan,
Colin Edwards and Bergstralh.
Led by three hits apiece from Bergstralh and Hallemann, Illinois College had a 17-4 advantage in hits in the game. Dearing ended with a game-high five RBIs.
Quinn Miller (1-2) was the winning pitcher for the Blueboys while Tanner Coleman was tagged with the loss.
Jake Schippert and
D.J. Ramos combined for three scoreless innings of relief.
Illinois College heads north this weekend for four games on Saturday and Sunday. First up is a doubleheader at St. Norbert College on April 13 starting at 12 p.m.
