Elsah, ILL. -- Principia College faced the Beavers of Blackburn College. The Panthers jumped out to an early lead as they loaded the bases and sophomore Stephen Strong singled two runs home. Jake Kearney started for the Panthers on short rest. He battled through Blackburn's tough top of the lineup and had a quick second inning. Ryan Eisenauer threw out another would be base stealer to end the threat in the second. Three base hits in the third for Blackburn allowed them to get on the board and tie things up briefly. Eddie Bargmann led things off for the Panthers in the third and had a solo shot to regain the lead. In the fourth, the Beavers mounted their charge. After the first three runners reached, a sacrifice fly tied things up. An error loaded the bases and two more singles gave Blackburn their first lead of the evening. The Panthers responded in the bottom of the 4th and scored five runs with two outs. Jeff Ross, who started at first for the Panthers, started the two-out rally with a double. A single by Parker Davidson, followed by another single by Eddie Bargmann plated Ross to chip away at the lead. A soft bloop down the first baseline turned into a double for Grennie who scored on the McMullin home run. Jake Kearney did what he does best when pitching with a lead. He retired the side in order. The Panthers then exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth as the team capitalized on one error and four walks. Hannan, who led off the inning with a single, came back around and with the bases loaded and two outs, ripped a triple. Jake went back out for the sixth and again put up another zero with some defensive help as the Panthers turned the 4-6-3 double play. The Panthers added some insurance in the 6th scoring five more runs to extend the lead to 14. These runs proved to be needed. Zach Grennie came in and popped the first batter up for a quick first out. He struck the second batter out. With two outs, the Beavers worked six walks before Nathan Wood entered the game and struck out the three hole hitter to end the game.
Aleq McMullin led the Panthers with four hits. Sean Hannan had four RBI's and Jeff Ross had a break out game at the plate with a double and a single.
He Said It:
"It was good to see the bats come alive and help pick up the pitching today. I know the guys were excited about the warm weather we had and the bats came alive."
-- Head Coach Chris Marston
Up Next:
The Panthers will face Blackburn this Saturday in a double header slated for a 1:00 pm start. The Panthers will be honoring the Cheatham Family prior to first pitch.
