Blueboys Baseball Split MWC Double-Header Against Beloit

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - The Illinois College baseball team continued Midwest Conference play by hosting the Buccaneers of Beloit College for a double-header Saturday at Joe Brooks Field. The Blueboys captured a split by taking game one by the final score of 8-3 but dropped the second game by the final score of 2-20. With the split, the Blueboys currently stand at 16-11 overall and 3-8 in MWC play. 

Game 1: Illinois College 8, Beloit 3

Louie Bartletti led the charge for the Blueboys as they took down Beloit College with an 8-3 victory. Jack McGuire made his eighth start of the season as he went seven strong innings giving up three runs on four hits while striking out six. For the game, IC had four student-athletes record at least two hits while Passmore and Barker drove in two each.

The game got off to a quick start as starting third baseman Brayden Weaver made an incredible diving play that retired the Buccaneers lead off hitter in the top of the first. McGuire went on to retire the first six batters of the game until Beloit's JT Tamburini blasted a solo shot in the top half of the third that gave the Bucs the early 0-1 lead. Beloit added a single-run in the fourth that increased the deficit to 0-2. 

It took the Blueboys four innings to push a run across courtesy of a Ryne Mapes double in the right center gap after a 13-pitch at bat that scored Weaver that gave IC their first run of the game. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Bartletti hit his tenth home run of the season which was a two-run blast that evened up the game at two apiece. Beloit reclaimed the lead in the sixth on a solo shot from Kriger who currently leads MWC with 11 home runs. That blast by Kriger was the final run scored by Beloit as it was all IC from the sixth inning on. With two outs, Adam Passmore gave the Blueboys their first lead of the game at 4-3 by slicing a two-run double to the right center field gap that drove in Ryne Mapes and Ryan Huskey.

With a one run lead heading into the seventh innings, IC got insurance runs on a Tyler Barker wall-scraping home run to left center field that extended the Blueboys lead to 6-3. After seven strong innings from McGuire, first-year pitcher Anthony Buonaura entered the game in the top of the eighth looking to slam the door. He found himself in some trouble by walking two batters, but ended up striking out the side that kept the Blueboys at their 6-3 lead.

IC continued to tack on insurance runs in the eighth inning. With two outs, Nolan Decker and Connor Hennemann each drove in a run that extended the lead to 8-3. Buonaura came back out for the ninth inning looking for the three-out save. Buonaura got in a jam in the ninth inning, but struck out O'Leary with the bases loaded that secured a game one victory for the Blueboys.

Game 2: Illinois College 2, Beloit 20

In the nightcap, Huskey got IC on the board in the second inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Hennemann. In the bottom of the seventh, first-year Justus Lee entered the game as a pinch-hitter when he recorded his first collegiate hit which was a solo home run over the left field wall. For the game, IC collected six hits and used seven different pitchers.

The second-game of the double-header was the complete opposite for the Blueboys as IC struggled to find momentum after finding themselves in a 1-6 early deficit after the second inning. 

In the top of the fourth, Beloit extended their lead to 2-8 on a two run home run from Connor Vogel. In the top of the fifth, the Buccaneers blew open the game with a 10-run inning that made the score 1-18.

In the top of the sixth, IC made several changes to the lineup when Jackson Fricke, Shelby Lee, Jonathan Odom, and Sam Hulvey all entered the game. The Bucs added a single-run in the inning on a wild pitch issued by Connor Akstulewicz. In the bottom of the sixth, Brandon Smith got the call as a pinch-hitter and later replaced Barker in the outfield.   

In the top of the seventh, left-handed reliever Aden Emery took over on the mound and recorded two strikeouts in his first varsity appearance of the season. However, Beloit added a run in the inning on a bases-loaded walk issued by Emery that generated the final score. 

The Blueboys will travel to Knox College on Tuesday, April 13 for a MWC double-header starting at 1:00 PM in Galesburg, Illinois.