By Jami Sponaugle

Mequon, Wis. - At the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Baseball Tournament on Friday, the No. 5 seeded Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks baseball team took on the No. 6 seeded Concordia University Chicago Cougars in the first game of the day, Game 5 of the tournament. A double-elimination tournament, Friday's Game 5 was a must win for both sides as the Hawks and Cougars both tallied a loss during Thursday's games. The Hawks defeated the Cougars 7-3 to advance to Game 7 of the tournament. 

In Game 7 of the tournament, the Hawks took on the No. 4 seeded Edgewood College Eagles. Once again, the game was considered a win or go home as both sides have faced one loss. Unfortunately for the Hawks, this would be the end of the road as they fell to Eagles 3-2. 

Illinois Tech 7 - Concordia University Chicago 3

• In the bottom of the first, the Hawks opened the game when Michael Paxson singled through the left side, bringing in Tyler Gutsfeld to put the Hawks up 1-0. 

• The Cougars then took the lead in the top of the third off a Jacob Christian homerun, putting CUC on top 3-1. During the bottom of the third, Connor Blake answered with a solo home run to make it a 1-run ballgame. 

• The Hawks then took back the lead during the bottom of the fourth inning. David Cooper scored off a Brandon Bennitt sac-fly to tie the game at 3-3. A single by Blake to right field brought in Matthew Bove to put the Hawks ahead. Then, on a throwing error by the Cougars pitcher, Blake was able to steal home to put the Hawks up 5-3. The Hawks built on their lead when Jackson scored from a Samuel Sproule single through the left side. Then, the final run of the game came from a Paxson single through the middle, scoring Sproule and giving the Hawks the 7-3 victory. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Connor Blake went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI's, 2 runs, a home run, and a stolen base.

• Matthew Jackson went 2-for-3 with 1 run and a stolen base.

• Michael Paxson went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI's. 

• Austin Richardson was on the mound for the Hawks. Richardson pitched 9.0 innings, faced 32 batters, allowed 3 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 1 home run, and struck out 2 batters. 79-of-118 pitches were strikes. 

Cougars Standouts

• Jacob Christian went 1-for-4 with 3 RBI's, 1 run, and a home run.

• Tyler Krater went 1-for-2 with 1 run and a stolen base. 

Edgewood 3 - Illinois Tech 2

• The Eagles got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning with one run off a sac-fly by Dylan Carrington to take a 1-0 lead. 

• In the top of the fourth inning, the Hawks tied the game up when Blake hit a  solo home run to right field. 

• During the top of the 6th, the Hawks took the lead when Bennitt scored off a Jackson sac-fly. 

• Unfortunately for the Hawks, the Eagles would tally two runs in the bottom of the eight off a Carrington double. The Hawks were unable to get any runs going in the ninth inning and fell to the Eagles 3-2, ending their run in the NACC tournament. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Connor Blake went 2-for-4 with 1 RBI, 1 run, and a homerun.

• Brandon Bennitt went 1-for-4 with 1 run.

Eagles Standouts

• Dylan Carrington went 1-for-3 with 3 RBI's and a double.

• Nick Manthei recorded the win on the mound for the Eagles. Manthei pitched 9.0 innings, faced 34 batters, allowed 7 hits, 2 runs, 1 home run, and struck out 5 batters. 

2023 Recap

With that, the 2023 season comes to an end. The Hawks finished the season with a 22-21 overall record and a 14-10 conference record. This marked the Hawks first 20+ win season since 2015.

Throughout the season, the Hawks tallied 1,528 at-bats, 328 runs, 499 hits, 100 doubles, 9 triples, 47 home runs, 303 runs batted in, 156 extra base hits, 758 total bases, 66 stolen bases, a .327 batting average, a .403 on base percentage, and a .496 slugging percentage. 

In the NACC, Matthew Jackson ranked 3rd in slugging percentage (.685), tied for 1st in runs batted in (57), and 2nd in home runs (12). Samuel Sproule ranked 3rd in stolen bases (21). 

Brandon Bennitt led the team in runs with 47 and doubled with 16. Samuel Sproule led the team in hits with 65, stolen bases with 22. Tyler Gutsfeld led the Hawks in tripled with 4. Matthew Jackson led in home runs with 12 and RBI's with 58. 

On the mound, Austin Richardson posted a 6-2 record and 2 complete games, pitched 61.2 innings, struck out 75, had a 10.95 K/9, and a 4.38 ERA. Cameron Bracewell posted a 8-3 record with 55.1 innings pitched, struck out 39 batters, had a 6.34 K/9, and a 4.88 ERA. Joseph Belflower posted a 3-0 record, 1 save, and 1 complete game with 40.0 innings pitched, struck out 29, had a 6.52 K/9, and a 6.52 ERA. Alejandro Garcia posted a 4-5 record and 2 saves with 33.1 innings pitched, struck out 33, had a 8.91 K/9 and a 2.16 ERA. 

Congratulations to the Hawks three seniors on their careers as Scarlet Hawks and their contributions to Illinois Tech both on and off the field: Brandon Bennitt, Matthew Jackson, and Zac Lis. 

The Scarlet Hawks baseball team will return to action in the spring of 2024.