ELSAH, IL – The Panthers Baseball team opened up SLIAC conference play against top seeded Webster University. The sun was shining but wind and cool temperatures made it a chilly day at Cheatham Stadium.
Micah Cook made his sixth start of the season and worked around a walk to escape unscathed in the top of the first. Dean Wood led the Panthers off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Ben Perrine. Ryan D'Amico reached on an error by the third basemen and the errant throw allowed Wood to score from second to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. After both teams went scoreless in the second, the Gorloks plated a run on a two out double steal when the throw scooted away. A single allowed the second run to score before a nice backhanded play by Wood at short ended the inning.
The Panthers would tie things up in the bottom of the fifth on a D'Amico RBI ground out with the bases loaded. Webster took a 5-2 lead in the sixth by scoring three runs with two outs. Principia chased the Gorlok starter in the home half of the sixth by loading the bases again on three singles by Skyler Stock, Josh Dement and Cole Christensen. However, the Panthers were unable to push a run across despite hard contact on all three outs. Ethan Booth entered on the mound for Cook and threw a scoreless seventh. Webster plated three more in the 8th and again in the 9th to run away with game one 11-2.
In game two of the doubleheader, the Gorloks jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. They tallied 13 runs on 16 hits, while Principia pitching issued nine walks. Dean Wood and Cole Christensen led the Panthers with two hits apiece and accounted for all of Principia's hits in game two.
Stat of the Game: Thanks to their performances today, Christensen (3 for 4) and Wood (4 for 6) lead the Panthers in conference batting average.
Marston's Minute: "Micah did a heck of job on the mound for us today in game one. We played 7 innings of excellent defense, and when you're playing a team the caliber of Webster, you can't afford to make a mistake. They took advantage of a couple of our miscues and were able to run away with the game. I thought we competed really well. Game two we just couldn't find a rhythm at the plate. They did a good job keeping us off balance."
Up Next: The Panthers travel to Fulton to take on the Westminster College Blue Jays on Tuesday, March 26th at 12:00 pm.
