ELSAH, IL – The Principia baseball team hosted Fontbonne University in their final matchup ever on Tuesday afternoon at Cheatham Stadium. The Panthers earned a historic, dominant 10-0 victory in game one before dropping game two 11-0.
Game 1: Panthers power up behind Calzada's gem
Freshman right-hander
Koye Calzada turned in a brilliant performance in game one, earning his first collegiate win with a complete-game one-hitter. Calzada was efficient and dominant over seven shutout innings, keeping the Fontbonne offense off balance all afternoon. This marks the first time a Principia pitcher has thrown a complete-game shutout since Chris Stamos in February 2020.
The Panthers' offense also came to play with some fireworks early. After
Josh Dement drew a walk,
Braxton Ramsey launched a two-run homer to left to open the scoring.
Kailis Mayo then followed that with a mammoth solo shot to left-center for back-to-back long balls. Then after
Skyler Stock worked a walk,
Justice Fortson crushed the team's third home run of the inning, putting Principia up 5-0.
Both starters settled into a groove through the middle innings, but the Panthers tacked on insurance in the sixth.
Dean Wood singled,
Cole Christensen walked, and
Josh Bayless poked a single through a drawn-in infield. With two outs,
Tyler Gingras roped an RBI double to right to make it 7-0.
In the bottom of the seventh, Mayo tripled, Stock walked, and Fortson delivered an RBI single. Christensen capped off the game with a two-run single to center, sealing a walk-off 10-run rule win.
Fortson led the offense with 3 RBIs while he, Mayo, Wood, Christensen and Bayless each had two hits as the Panthers pounded out 12 hits in the game. The win marks the program's first win over Fontbonne since the final game of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Game 2: Griffins bounce back
Game two saw a reversal of fortunes, as Fontbonne responded with an 11-0 shutout to earn the split. The Griffins scored one unearned in the top of the first and never looked back, building a 2-0 lead through three before erupting for a seven-run fourth inning to break the game open.
Cole Christensen started for Principia, but errors and Fontbonne's timely hitting gave them control. The Panthers managed just four hits in the nightcap, unable to find the same offensive rhythm from game one.
Looking ahead: With the split, Principia will look to carry that momentum into the weekend as they host the Greenville Panthers.
