EUREKA, Ill. - The Illinois College baseball team hit the road for their final non-conference decision of the season with a visit to Eureka College Sunday afternoon. The Blueboys captured a series split by defeating the Red Devils in game one by the final score of 13-1 before falling in game two by the score of 7-8. With the split, IC now stands at 13-3 overall before.
Game 1: Illinois College 13, Eureka 1
Jacob Smith earned his second start of this season by taking the mound for IC in game one. In the first inning, Smith delievered a scoreless inning that ended in a double-play started at
Nolan Decker at third base. In the second, Eureka struck first on the scoreboard with a single run with back-to-back hits for the 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third,
Ryne Mapes got the inning started with a two-out double to right. Immediately following the double by Mapes,
Adam Passmore ripped a single to center that scored Mapes and tied the game at one apiece.
Smith remained locked in on the mound and added three additional shutouts innings and while striking out two along the way. With Smith's dominant pitching performances in those inning, Smith kept the score tied at one apiece.
In the top of the sixth,
Louie Bartletti led off the inning by reaching base by taking a hit-by-pitch and advanced to third on a Decker single to left. With runners on the corners and one out,
Jon Tate smashed a two-run single to right that scored Bartletti and Decker that gave IC the 3-1 advantage. The inning continued with back-to-back singles by
Liam Tieman and
Logan Schweigert that forced a Red Devil pitching change.
After the pitching change,
Brayden Weaver entered the game as a pinch hitter when he ripped a two-run double to left that scored Tieman and Schweigert that increased the lead to 5-1. Immediately following the Weaver double, Mapes smashed a rbi single to center that scored Weaver that made the score 6-1. After a stolen base by Mapes, Passmore ripped a rbi single to left that scored Mapes that increased the lead to 7-1. Bartletti capped off the eight-run inning with a two-run home run that scored Passmore for the 9-1 advantage.
In the top of the seventh, the Blueboys added four runs on four hits that started on a bases-loaded rbi single to left by
Jonathan Odom that scored Tate. With the bases still loaded, Mapes followed up with a rbi single to right that scored Tieman that made the score 11-1. Immediately following the single by Mapes, Passmore hit a rbi single to right that scored Schweigert as Odom also scored on the play after a throwing error by the EC's right fielder that made the score 13-1. Later in the inning,
Shelby Lee entered the game as a pinch hitter and later replace Tate at first.
In the bottom half of the seventh, IC made two substitutions;
Anthony Buonaura took over on the mound while
Charlie Lardi entered the game in center for Mapes. Buonaura recorded the final three outs of the game by adding two strikeouts.
For the game, Mapes lead IC with four hits while Passmore drove in three. On the mound, Smith delivered six great inning of work while striking out three batters.
Game 2: Illinois College 7, Eureka 8
In the first inning of the nightcap decision, Passmore reached base on a fielder's choice when Bartletti launched a two-run home run that gave IC the early 2-0 advantage.
Aiden Lougeay earned his second start of the season and got out of a bases-loaded jam by getting Jackson Green to groundout in a double-play started by Hennemann at shortstop.
In the top of the third, Decker got the inning started with a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hennemann. With a runner in scoring position, Tate launched a two-run home that increased the lead to 4-0.
In the top of the fourth, Mapes started the inning by reaching base on a infield single to third. Immediately following, the red hot Passmore ripped a rbi double to center that scored Mapes that made the score 5-0 lead. Moments later, Bartletti launched his second home run of the game with a two-run blast that increased the lead to 7-0.
In the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, the Red Devils chipped back in the game with two runs in each inning that made the score 7-4. In the top of the sixth, IC made a pitching change to first-year
Connor Akstulewicz as he recorded a scoreless inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, Eureka's Joshua Frenden tied the game at 7-7 with a three-run home run. After three walks that loaded the bases, EC's Chase Ulrich generated the series split rbi single that made the final score 7-8.
For the game, Bartletti and Mapes led IC with three hits each while Bartlietti drove in four. On the mound, Lougeay pitched four innings while fanning two batters. Relievers Holder and Akstulewicz each recorded a strikeout.
The Blueboys will open Midwest Conference play with a road double-header at Monmouth College on Saturday March 23 with first pitch starting at 12:00PM (noon) in Monmouth, Illinois.
