CHICAGO—The Illinois Institute of Technology baseball team took the field for the first time in 378 days on Saturday afternoon when they hosted Wisconsin Lutheran College (DH) at Ed Glancy Field. The Scarlet Hawks opened the season 2-0 for the first time since 2005 with 11-1 (7 innings) and 5-1 victories over the Warriors.

The Scarlet Hawks exit Saturday with a 2-0 record while Wisconsin Lutheran falls to 1-5.

Illinois Tech 11, Wisconsin Lutheran 1 (Game One)

Scarlet Hawks senior Ian Duke picked up his first career home pitching victory since a 1-0 decision over UW-Platteville on May 6, 2018. He allowed just three hits and struckout seven batters in the complete-game victory. Duke's lone blemish occurred in the fourth inning, when the Warriors' Ryan Dominick doubled and later scored from third off Matt Schulenburg's groundout to narrow Illinois Tech's lead to 3-1. 

A three-run fifth inning, and a five-run sixth inning gave the Scarlet Hawks an 11-1 cushion, where things stood after the seven-inning mercy rule.

Connor Blake paced Illinois Tech at the plate with a 3-for-4 outing with one double and two runs scored, while Ted Howell registered a 2-for-4 day with a pair of doubles. Nick Bledsoe and Brandon Holifield each registered a pair of hits for Illinois Tech. Bledsoe, Blake and Howell each tallied a pair of RBI's. 

Jake Wiedower allowed nine hits over five innings of work in the losing effort on the pitching rubber for Wisconsin Lutheran. 

Illinois Tech 5, Wisconsin Lutheran 1 (Game Two)

Austin Richardson registered his first collegiate pitching victory for Illinois Tech with a 15-strikeout performance. He found a groove after Wisconsin Lutheran's Foster Engelhardt hit a home run in the second inning to tie the game 1-1, which was only one-of-two hits Richardson allowed in the contest. The Scarlet Hawks tacked on four more runs en route to a 5-1 victory behind a 3-for-4 day at the plate from Michael Courtney. Claudio LoBraico and Jacob Sorenson each registered a pair of hits for Illinois Tech, who got RBI's from five different players. 

Roberto Carselle's two strikeouts over two innings pitched was enough to credit him with a save.

Evan Theis, Joe Serbiak and Andrew Muffler all saw pitching time for Wisconsin Lutheran. 

The Scarlet Hawks will return to action at home on Wednesday, March 24 against Concordia (Wis.) (DH) at 12:00 p.m.