Greenville, ILL. -- With the Midwest weather threatening, a double header was played Friday to ensure at least two games get played in the three game match up between Principia College and Greenville University. The Greenville Panthers (7-8) entered the matchup even with Principia in conference with two wins.
Jake Kearney made the start in the 7 inning game one and the Panther bats gave him an early lead.
Parker Davidson led off the game with a double and was advanced to third by a Eddie Bargmann groundout.
Jake Kearney helped his own cause by driving in Davidson. Kearney then took to the mound and delivered a quick first inning. The Panthers were scoreless in the second. Greenville's five hole led off the second with a home run to make the score even at one. Back at the top of the order, the Panther offense worked to push eight runs across the plate, all with two outs. Davidson led off with a walk, followed by two quick outs. Three more walks pushed Davidson across.
Aleq McMullin drove a bases-clearing triple to the wall.
Will Adler ripped a ball up the middle to plate McMullin. Eisenauer worked a walk. Davidson doubled and picked up an RBI as Adler crossed the plate. Bargmann smoked a ball to the left center gap doubling in two runs.
Kearney continued to throw well. He gave up a run in the third followed by two scoreless innings. The Panthers put together a 5-hit sixth and managed to score 4 as they extended their lead to 13-2. Greenville scored two more in the 6
th to cut the lead to nine on a two run homerun. The Principia Panthers responded by adding three more in the top of the seventh. Kearney was sent back out for the 7
th and managed to get two outs, but with his rising pitch count,
Nathan Wood was called upon to finish the game. He got ahead early on both batters he faced and got the second batter to fly out to center field to end the game. The Panthers finished with 16 runs on 17 hits.
Parker Davidson led the way with 4 hits (3 doubles and a single).
Game two saw
Stephen Strong on the mound for the Panthers. The Greenville Panthers scored first as a leadoff walk came around to score in the second inning. Principia was unable to respond. Greenville, seeing their opportunity, tacked on two more in the third. Principia evened things up in the top of the fourth as they managed to plate three runs on no hits. Greenville was able to regain the lead in the bottom of the fourth as another walk came around to score. Strong settled in and threw two more scoreless innings. In the top of the seventh, the Panthers scored on a
Jake Kearney single to tie things up.
Sean Hannan came in in relief and did his job keeping the Greenville bats at bay. Still tied going into the ninth, the Panthers worked several full counts and picked up two one-out walks. With two outs, Kearney delivered again with a double.
Zach Grennie singled and scored him as the Panthers took a three run lead. Hannan kept Greenville off the board in the bottom of the ninth to pick up his first win on the season. Bargmann, Strong, and Kearney all had two hits to lead the Panther offense.
He Said It:
"It was great to see the bats come alive in game one to give Jake the win and we didn't lay down in game two when we were down. Instead we found a way to work walks and had some timely hitting. Our situational hitting was much better as it has been a big focus this last week for us. We moved runners over and were able to pass the torch on to the next guy up and down the lineup."
-- Head Coach
Chris Marston
Up Next:
Principia College plays the final game in the 3 game series as an "away" game at home due to Greenville's field being unplayable. Game time is set for 6:00 pm.
