by Eric Willuweit
Lake Myrtle, Fla. - Despite holding a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning Wednesday afternoon in Florida, the Illinois Tech baseball team could not hold off the comeback attempt of Mount St. Joseph, as the Lions scored six runs over the final four innings to win the game 6-3. With the loss, the Scarlet Hawks fell to 5-4 overall. However, they finished over .500 for the spring break trip, going 3-2. The Lions improved to 7-4 overall.
The Scarlet Hawks were unable to sustain the offensive production they had achieved during the first four games of the trip. Prior to Wednesday, the Hawks had averaged just over 10 runs a game and 14 hits a game. Against Mount St. Joseph, the Scarlet Hawks had only nine hits, seven of which came in the two innings they scored - the second and the fifth innings. They were shut down for the most part by the Lions over the final four innings, scratching out just one run and two hits.
Nicolas Carillo gave the Scarlet Hawks a strong starting outing, going five scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and one walk with five strikeouts.
Despite the loss, the team achieved their goal of a successful spring break trip record-wise, not to mention the opportunity for team-bonding and to take advantage of the Florida weather to get in five regular games and two "JV" games, allowing much-needed playing time early in the season for the squad.
How It Happened
Bottom Of 2nd Inning (Illinois Tech 1 - Mount St. Joseph 0)
Matthew Jackson opened the inning with a leadoff double to left center, and advanced to third base on a single by Samuel Sproule. Peyton Vieluf followed up with a single of his own, scoring Jackson.
Bottom of 5th Inning (Illinois Tech 2 - Mount St. Joseph 0)
First-year infielder Ivan Tejeda clubbed a one-out triple, and scored on an infield single by Tyler Gutsfeld.
Top of 6th Inning (Illinois Tech 2 - Mount St. Joseph 2)
A leadoff double by Ryan Murray, an advancement on a wild pitch, followed by an infield single by Carter Owen gave the Lions their first run of the game. A one-out single by Jackson Gutzwiller moved Owen to third base, where he would score on a sacrifice fly, tying the game at 2-2.
Top of 7th (Mount St. Joseph 4 - Illinois Tech 2)
The Lions would add two more runs in the top of the seventh inning on a Jake Lawson sacrifice fly and a bunt single by Owen to extend their lead to 4-2.
Bottom of 7th (Mount St. Joseph 4 - Illinois Tech 3)
The Scarlet Hawks got their final run of the game without the benefit of a hit, as David Cooper drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a balk, advanced to third on a flyout, and scored on a two-out balk, cutting the Hawks deficit to 4-3.
Top of 8th (Mount St. Joseph 5 - Illinois Tech 3)
A two-out double by Lawson scored Kevin Schaaf all the way from first base, giving the Lions a 5-3 lead.
Top of 9th (Mount St. Joseph 6 - Illinois Tech 3)
A safety squeeze bunt with one out brought home Zach McKenna, who earlier in the inning pinch-ran for Patrick Murray, who had a one-out double.
Scarlet Hawks Standouts
- Carillo with five innings of scoreless ball, allowing only 3 hits and one walk while striking out 5 batters.
- Jackson was 2-4 with a double and a run scored.
- Connor Blake was 2-5.
- Cooper was 1-3 with a walk and a run scored.
- Tejeda was 1-3 with a run scored.
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks rescheduled their home-opening double header with North Central (IL), originally scheduled for Saturday March 18th, and split the games over a two day period. The Scarlet Hawks will travel to Carol Stream, Ill. to face North Central Sunday afternoon at 12:00 PM, and then return home on Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 PM to face the Cardinals again for Illinois Tech's home opener.