Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 SAUGET, ILL. – The Panthers journeyed to Sauget, IL, to play two games with the Webster Gorloks. The Gorloks entered tonight's matchup with the best record in the SLIAC. They were ranked as high as fifth in the nation in the DIII polls this season. The Gorloks improved to 21-12 on the year, and 14-4 in conference play. The Panthers competed well this evening, but a few too many big innings for the Gorloks proved to be the difference in the games. The Gorloks defeated the Panthers, 12-4, in the first game, and then 13-6 in the second game.
Game 1
Hunter Mehring received the start on the mound for the Panthers. He went four innings and gave up 10 runs, but only five of those runs were earned. Mehring also struck out three.
Jake Kearney pitched the final two innings for the Panthers and tossed a scoreless sixth inning. Kearney struck out three in his two innings on the hill.
The Panthers got to square off against Josh Fleming, who was arguably the most dominant pitcher in the SLIAC last year (as a freshman). The Gorloks hurler entered with a 0.93 ERA this year. Fleming was instrumental in helping the Gorloks reach the NCAA DIII World Series last year.
The Panthers were up for the test, as they jumped on Fleming early.
Connor Coyne led off the game with a line drive double in the left center gap.
Parker Davidson followed with an RBI double of his own.
Hunter Mehring then lined a single, advancing Davidson to third, who would score on
Zach Grennie's RBI ground out later in the inning.
Connor Coyne connected for a solo blast in his second at-bat of the day in the third inning. The Panthers collected seven hits and three runs off of Webster's left-hander in his five innings of work. The Panthers tacked on a fourth run in the seventh and final inning of the game on a David Giorlando pinch-hit single, which scored
Aleq McMullin.
Parker Davidson led the way with three hits in four at-bats.
Connor Coyne and
Hunter Mehring each picked up two hits in the game.
Aleq McMullin,
Bryce Murray, and David Giorlando each had a hit in the first game as well.
The Panthers committed three errors in the opening game tonight. The Gorloks made the Panthers pay for those mistakes, as they took advantage and extended innings where the Panthers could have escaped unblemished. The Gorloks scored four runs in the second inning (all unearned), and then an additional five runs in the third frame. The Gorloks ended up taking game one, 12-4.
Game 2
David McClelland was the starting pitcher in the second game for the Panthers. After allowing three runs in the first inning, McClelland made some necessary adjustments and settled in nicely. He went five innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
Parker Tibbetts turned in an impressive relief outing, as he threw 1.2 innings of no-hit ball and struck out one batter along the way.
Offensively, the Panthers collected eight hits.
Zach Grennie hit two moon shots, which upped his homerun total to eight on the year (placing him second in the conference). Eight of Grennie's 23 hits on the year have been round trippers. Grennie's two homers today also moved him into the top 20 in the nation, and he is only a freshman, and has also missed three games this year.
Hunter Mehring picked up a triple,
Parker Davidson and
Aleq McMullin each had doubles in the second game. Mehring, Grennie, and McMullin all had multi-hit games for the Panthers.
The Gorloks erupted for seven runs in the sixth inning, which ended up being the difference in the game, as the Gorloks triumphed, 13-6. The Panthers return to action on Saturday, as they host the Washington University Bears for a single nine inning game beginning at 12:00 noon!
