DAVENPORT, Flor. - The Illinois College baseball team continued action at the 2024 Russ Matt Central Florida Invitational Thursday with a decision against Penn State-Abington at Northeast Regional Park. The Blueboys were led by
Louie Bartletti as he captured his first career mulit-homerun day with two deeps blasts that drove in four helped defeat the Nittany Lions by the final score of 7-3. With the victory, IC improves to 7-2 overall on the season.
Starting pitcher
Branson Shaw got the start for the Blueboys as he got into an early jam in the first inning. The Nittany Lions strung together three hits that produced two runs. In the bottom portion,
Ryne Mapes lead off the inning with a walk when he later scored on a two-run home run off the bat of Bartletti that tied the game at two apiece.
In the second, Shaw found his grove and delivered a scoreless inning by striking out the side. Shaw continued his dominance on the mound as he added three additional scoreless innings that kept the game tied at two apiece to the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Mapes lead off the inning with a double to right center. With one out, Bartletti launched an absolute no-doubter home run over the right field wall for his second home run of the day that gave IC the 4-2 lead.
In the sixth, Abington's Jake Fallers lead off the inning with a triple to center field. With one out, Shaw got Eric Rollins to flyout to right when
Ryan Huskey threw a fantastic throw to
Logan Schweigert at the plate that gunned out Fallers for an inning-ending double-play.
In the bottom half of the sixth,
Jon Tate lead off the inning with a single to left when he came all the way around to score on a rbi triple to right center from Huskey that made the score 5-2. Immediately following the Huskey triple, Mapes drove in Huskey that increased the lead to 6-2.
In the seventh, Shaw returned to the mound and recorded his sixth scoreless inning by getting Abington's Sean Doherty to ground into a 6-4-3 double-play that ended his outing. In the bottom frame, IC added its final run of the game on a sacrifice flyout by Hennemann that scored Bartletti that made the score 7-2.
In the eighth, Abington added their final run of the game on a rbi single from Donato Incolingo. First-year reliever Charlie recorded the final five outs of the game that included one strikeout.
For the game, Bartletti paced the Blueboys offense with three hits that drove in a game-high four runs in while Mapes, Hennemann, and Huskey each drove in one. On the mound, Shaw delivered seven full innings of work that included eight strikeouts and was credited with the win.
The Blueboys will conclude action in Florida under the lights on Friday, March 8 against North Central University of Minnesota at 6:00 PM Eastern Time in Davenport, Florida.
