RIPON, Wis.  – The Illinois College baseball team rallied in the first game and rolled in the second game, posting a sweep of Ripon in a Midwest Conference doubleheader on Saturday at Francis Field.
IC rallied late to take the opener, 7-6, and then used an offensive onslaught to record an 18-2, seven-inning win in the nightcap.
IC is now 19-13 overall and 10-4 in Midwest Conference play. Ripon dropped to 4-21 and 3-9.
Game 1: IC 7 Ripon 6
The Blueboys opened the scoring with three runs in the first inning as
Ketch Mills stroked an RBI single and
Nicholas Muskopf had a two-run single.
The Red Hawks then added four unanswered runs and led 4-3 until IC tied the contest in the sixth when
Logan Fleener ripped an RBI single. Again, the Red Hawks answered and scored two in their half of the sixth to take a 6-4 lead.
IC rallied in the eighth inning to score the eventual winning runs when Muskopf tripled to drive in one. He then came around to score, along with
Josh Morales, on a Ripon error.
Nathan Walker led the Blueboy offense with three hits while Muskopf and Fleener each had two.
On the mound,
Dawson Vernier recorded his fifth win of the season, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing eight hits and six runs (four earned) with a pair of strikeouts.
Xavier Koch tossed 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just two hits while recording four strikeouts.
Connor Akstulewicz worked a scoreless, hitless ninth inning to earn his second save of the season.
Game 2: IC 18 Ripon 2 (7 innings)
IC put the game away early, jumping out to a 9-0 lead after two innings. The Blueboys put four runs on the board in the top of the first.
Tyler Barker had an RBI double, Mills an RBI single, and Muskopf an RBI double.
The scoring parade continued in the top of the second with IC hanging a five-spot on the board. Barker had an RBI, Walker scored on a Red Hawk error, and
Nolan Decker stroked an RBI single and eventually came home on a Ripon wild pitch.
The Blueboys scored three times in the fourth inning as
Ethan Klunk had a two-run single and
Alex Loman added an RBI with a sacrifice fly.Â
The Red Hawks cut into the lead with two in the fifth inning before IC countered with three more runs in the sixth. Again, the trio of Walker, Mills, and Muskopf all had RBI in the inning. The Blueboys put the game away in the seventh inning as Mills drove in a run with a single, and Muskopf added a two-run double to close out the scoring.
Mills and Muskopf each had four hits and four RBI in the game; Walker added three more hits, and Decker drove in three.
IC's
Anthony Buonaura was the beneficiary of the offensive onslaught, improving to 4-2 by working six innings, allowing two runs on eight hits with three strikeouts.
Aidan Lougeay worked the seventh inning, striking out the side around two hits.
Up Next
The Blueboys and Red Hawks close out the weekend series tomorrow with a single game starting at Noon.
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