by Eric Willuweit

Mount Vernon, Ohio - After dropping their last three games, the Illinois Tech baseball team was looking for redemption in their four-game road swing at Kenyon College. On Sunday afternoon, the Scarlet Hawks were able to do just that, winning both games of a double-header, taking game one 12-10 and game two 8-4(in 7 innings). With the pair of victories, the Scarlet Hawks improved to 7-6 on the season. Kenyon fell to 9-5.

The up and down Scarlet Hawks offense returned to early season form on Sunday. After averaging only 1.67 runs per game and 5.33 hits per game over the three-game losing streak, the Hawks exploded for 20 runs and 25 hits in the double-header victory. Peyton Vieluf had a monster day, batting six for nine with six RBI and three runs scored. Andres Martinez(1-0) picked up the win in game one, pitching a scoreless inning in relief. Austin Richardson(3-0) took the victory in game two, going five innings while scattering nine hits and four runs. Richardson struck out seven in his start.

"Today's contests showed that we have the talents offensively, defensively and off the mound to be a very good team" said Head Coach Ed Zeifert. "We are learning to start strong and finish strong, which is out challenge moving forward" said Zeifert. 

Zeifert had praise for his teams offensive ouput on the day, as well as praise for some gutsy pitching efforts. 

"I would like to congratulate Peyton Vieluf, Tyler Gutsfeld, and Brandon Bennitt on great days at the plate" said Zeifert. "Additionally, it was fun to watch Connor(Blake), (Joseph)Bellflower, AR(Richardson) and (Alejandro)Garcia get it done off the mound.

Game 1 - Illinois Tech 12 - Kenyon College 10

Trailing 6-1 heading into the top of the fifth inning, the Scarlet Hawks put up a five-spot in the inning. Gutsfeld led off the inning with a solo home run to right field, and Samuel Sproule and Vieluf each had two-RBI doubles to draw the Scarlet Hawks even with the Owls at 6-6. Bennitt would put the Hawks out front 8-6 in the sixth inning with a 2-run single. The Hawks would tack on three more runs in their half of the seventh inning, on the strength of a Vieluf two-run home run and an RBI single by Gutsfeld to extend their lead to 11-6. The Owls answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the seventh, but the Hawks would get that back in the top of the eighth when Bennitt stole third base and came home on a throwing error by Owl's catcher Stephen Carr. The Owls comeback effort in the bottom of the ninth pulled Kenyon within three runs at 12-10, but Belflower was able to close out the game to earn his first save.

Game 2 - Illinois Tech 8 - Kenyon College 4 (7 Innings)

After falling behind 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning, the Scarlet Hawks responded with two runs of their own in the top of the sixth inning, with Bennitt blasting a two-run home run. Kenyon answered with individual runs in the bottom half of the third and fourth innings for a 4-2 Kenyon lead. The Scarlet Hawks erased the Kenyon lead in their top half of the sixth inning, putting up five runs for a 7-4 lead. Vieluf added a two-run double, and a Gutsfeld two-run single was sandwiched around a Scarlet Hawks run on a wild pitch. Timmy Old would complete the scoring for the Hawks in the top of the seventh inning with an RBI single, giving the Hawks their final 8-4 margin of victory.

Scarlet Hawks Standouts - Combined Double-Header

• Vieluf went 6-9 with 6 RBI and 3 runs scored, with one home run.
• Gutsfeld was 5-9 with 5 RBI, 3 runs scored and two home runs.
• Bennitt was 5-8 with 4 RBI, 4 runs scored with one home run and two stolen bases.
• Sproule was 2-8 with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored.
• Garcia with 2 innings pitched, 2 hits and no runs allowed.
• Martinez with one inning of one-hit, no run ball.

Next Up

The Scarlet Hawks will face off with the Owls for a second day at 11:00 AM CT and 1:30 PM CT at Kenyon College.