JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Late losses by the Illinois College baseball team on Saturday to Cornell College have severely damaged IC's Midwest Conference Tournament aspirations. The Rams came back late in each contest to record 6-5 and 6-4 victories over the Blueboys on Saturday. Cornell is now 21-15 (8-6 MWC South Division), while IC falls to 17-17 (6-8 MWC South).
There is one scenario left for IC to make it to the MWC Tournament. When the Blueboys host Cornell on Sunday for a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m., IC must sweep the Rams and pair that with a split between Monmouth College and Grinnell College in a doubleheader up north. That would result in a three-way tie for IC, Cornell and Grinnell and the Blueboys would hold the tiebreaker based on overall results against the tied opponents. The MWC Tournament begins on May 10.
Game One: Cornell 6, Illinois College 5
Illinois College was one out away from victory in the opening game of the day on Saturday before Cornell tied the game with a double and took the lead later in the ninth inning.
Dentler Loschen fell to 4-2 despite going 8.2 innings.
Both teams started fast offensively. Cornell put three runs (all unearned) on the board in the top of the first inning. Illinois College responded back with two runs in the bottom of the inning.
Colin Dearing and
Brendan Stanfield had the RBIs to pull the Blueboys back within one.
Cornell added onto its lead with a run in the top of the second, but things settled in after that and it wasn't until the bottom of the sixth when Illinois College scored twice to knot the game up at 4-4. With the bases loaded, Stanfield was hit by a pitch to make it 4-3 and a wild pitch later in the inning allowed Dearing to race home.
In the bottom of the eighth, a
Cade Hennemann single scored Stanfield to put IC on top, 5-4. Loschen, cruising towards a complete game, had two outs and a man on second when a double to the wall from Keenan Bryant tied the game at 5-5. That ended the senior's day, but the bullpen struggled and another run scored to make it 6-5.
In the bottom of the ninth, a pair of one-out walks put the tying run aboard and a groundout moved each runner up 90 feet, putting the winning run in scoring position with two down. The game ended with Caleb Wichman getting the save after inducing a groundout to wrap it up.
Bailey Reed led the offense with a 4-for-6 day at the plate. Dearing was 3-for-5 and
Scott Kasting, Hennemann and
Tim Sommerfeld all had multi-hit games as well.
Game Two: Cornell 6, Illinois College 4
In the second game of the day, both starting pitchers were cruising through a scoreless contest through the first five innings. Illinois College took a 3-1 lead after six innings and a 4-3 lead after seven. However, the Rams had another rally left in them, scoring three times in the top of the eighth to take a 6-4 edge and holding on from there to complete the sweep of the first day of the four-game series.
Cornell went on top in the top of the sixth on a RBI single from Cale Jamesson.
Eli Fox tied it up with a RBI single up the middle in IC's turn at the plate and
Dillon Hallemann reached on an infield single that allowed Reed to come home for a 2-1 lead. With two down in the inning, a wild pitch brought Fox in for a 3-1 advantage.
Wichman knotted the score in the top of the seventh, driving in two with a double to the wall and making it 3-3. That lasted only until the bottom of the seventh however, when Stanfield reached on an error from the rightfielder and Reed scored from second.
Logan Love ran into trouble in the top of the eighth when Jamesson walked to lead off the inning.
Kole Lowry entered but the Rams continued to pile on with a single and a RBI double from Bryant that made it 5-4. Sage Sutter later added a RBI single to make it 6-4.
Illinois College's best chance to get back in it came when the Blueboys loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Collin Zear was able to escape the jam when Cornell got the second out of the inning on a play at the plate and then got Dearing to fly out. IC didn't mount as much of a threat in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate with two down, but striking out to end it.
Joe Paparelli, Reed, Fox and Hallemann all ended with two hits in the game. Love struck out three in 7.0+ innings, ending with a no-decision.
