JACKSONVILLE, ILL.—The Illinois Institute of Technology baseball team embarked on a rare, neutral site series on Saturday as they faced Elmhurst College (DH) at Lenz Field in Jacksonville, Illinois. The Scarlet Hawks couldn't capitalize on their first victory of 2020 as they fell to the Bluejays by scores of 17-7 (8 Innings) and 6-2.
The Scarlet Hawks fall to 0-5 on the season while Elmhurst stays unbeaten at 3-0.
Elmhurst 17, Scarlet Hawks 7 (8 Innings)
Offense was the story of game one as both pitching staffs managed to combine for just eight strikeouts. Zachary Dickey had a big day at the plate for the Scarlet Hawks as he went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a home run. He drove in the game's first run in the opening frame with a double that scored Michael Courtney, which put Illinois Tech on the scoreboard first with a 1-0 score. Dickey later scored off Brandon Bennitt's double to widen their cushion to 2-0.
The Scarlet Hawks went on to notch a pair of two-run innings, but Elmhurst came up larger with a four-run first and a six-run fourth that helped seal them a 17-7 (8 Innings) victory.
Dickey and Orlando Cardenas-Juan each hit home runs for Illinois Tech.
Dickey and Bennett each registered two hits at the dish for Illinois Tech. Ryan Cantlin, Jacob Geiger, Alex O'Malley and Zac Lis all saw time on the pitching rubber for the Scarlet Hawks and combined to surrender 19 hits and 13 earned runs.
Jordan Scrimpsher led Elmhurst at the plate with a 4-for-5 outing. Alex Kielion notched the pitching win for the Bluejays with 5.1 innings of work, and allowed eights hits in the process.
Elmhurst 6, Scarlet Hawks 2
Illinois Tech's lone runs occurred in the first and ninth innings. Michael Courtney, who reached on an error, scored off a wild pitch in the first inning to make the score 1-0. A four-run Elmhurst fourth inning followed by a run each in the fifth and eighth was too much for the Scarlet Hawks to overcome, but they responded with one more run. Connor Blake (singled) did the honors in the ninth inning when he scored off Darius Jones' groundout to narrow the margin to 6-2.
Nick Bledsoe went 2-for-4 at the plate for Illinois Tech.
Roberto Carselle pitched the first six innings for the Scarlet Hawks, where he gave up 12 hits and five runs before Wyatt Ronek came in relief and gave up just three hits over the final three frames.
The Scarlet Hawks will face Elmhurst College in a single game tomorrow, Sunday, March 8 at 12:00 p.m. in Jacksonville, Illinois.