Box Score Elsah, ILL. - The Panthers hosted the Blackburn Beavers this evening for the first of their three game series. The Panthers struck first as they put up three in the opening inning. That was all they they needed even though the game became interesting in the later innings. The Panthers ultimately escaped with a 3-2 victory.
Sawyer Grow started on the mound and threw a great game. Grow coasted through 7.1 innings, allowing just one earned run while striking out three. The Panthers turned things over to
Parker Tibbetts with one out in the eighth inning. Tibbetts did what he's done the whole season ... remained poised and gotten the Panthers out of dangerous positions. Tibbetts entered in another precarious situation but did his job and made big pitches when it mattered most. Tibbetts recorded his third save in the last three games (all in the last two days).
The play of the game was when Tibbetts struck out a batter in the ninth inning and
Bryce Murray gunned down the runner attempting to steal second base. This was a huge play for the Panthers. The final batter of the game rolled one over to shortstop and
Jeff Ross picked the ball out of the dirt to seal the game.
Parker Davidson also made a spectacular leaping catch running back on a ball early in the game on a line drive to left center.
Ed Bargmann led the charge offensively with three hits, boosting his league-leading average to .409.
Zach Grennie also had three hits and
Jake Kearney added two.
Parker Davidson,
Bryce Murray and
Jeff Ross each contributed base hits of their own. The Panthers have won three tight games in a row and look to have found their stride, though they will need to clean up the defense tomorrow if they're going to complete the sweep over the Beavers.
Games two and three will be played in Carlinville, IL, tomorrow beginning at 1:00 pm. The Panthers sit at 16-8 overall and 7-3 in SLIAC action. It would be huge if they could take two more games tomorrow. Thank you to all the fans who showed their support tonight!
