Box Score Jacksonville, ILL. - The Panthers visited the MacMurray Highlanders for the final two games of their season series. It was a great day on the diamond for the Panthers as they won both games and swept the season series. The Highlanders were the top team in the division last year so the victories today were a huge confidence boost moving forward. The Panthers improved to 15-8 overall and 6-3 in conference.
Game 1
Hunter Mehring toed the rubber in the first game and threw very well. Mehring went 5.2 innings, scattering eight hits and three runs. He struck out four.
Alex Stamos then entered in a key situation in the bottom of the sixth and fanned the lone batter he faced on three straight pitches.
Parker Tibbetts entered in the seventh and closed the game out for the Panthers.
The Panthers squared off against the Highlanders' ace in game one, Luke Jarvis. Jarvis had his way with the Panthers last year but the Panthers battled today and knocked him out of the game after just four innings. The Panthers strung together a four run third inning.
Connor Coyne and
Sean Hannan led the way offensively. Coyne collected three hits including his fifth homer of the year. He also drove in three runs. Hannan tallied two hits of his own and
Ed Bargmann had a base hit as well.
Game 2
Will Adler started on the hill in the back end of the doubleheader. Adler pitched very well and did a nice job of inducing ground balls. Adler went five innings and allowed five hits and three runs while striking out one. The Panthers then turned to
Alex Stamos who threw the next three innings. Stamos struck out five and did not allow a run.
Parker Tibbetts entered with runners on first and second and no outs in the bottom of the ninth. The Panthers were clinging to a two run advantage at the time but the Highlanders were rallying. Tibbetts took full advantage of this opportunity and picked up his second save of the day. He got the first batter he faced to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. Tibbetts then retired the next batter after stabbing a line drive right back at him.
The Panthers clobbered the ball in the series finale as they smashed 14 base hits.
Sean Hannan and
Ed Bargmann each had three base hits.
Parker Davidson and
Hunter Mehring had two hits apiece including a homer for Mehring. This was Mehring's third on the year.
Connor Coyne,
Zach Grennie,
Bryce Murray and
Jeff Ross each had a base hit in the game. The Panthers saw the Highlanders' best pitchers today but their offense proved to be too much for the Highlanders' staff which was the best in the league last year.Â
These were two huge wins for the Panthers. They're playing great baseball and look to ride the momentum into their next series against the Blackburn Beavers. The Panthers host the Beavers Friday at 6:00 p.m. in another crucial conference matchup.
