Game One
Game Two
The Prairie Fire bounced back from a pair of one-run losses last weekend with a doubleheader sweep against Monmouth College April 23 at Blodgett Field.
CJ Foster '13
Knox won the first game against the Fighting Scots 7-6 to end a six-game slide. The 14-4 victory in the second game gave the Prairie Fire its first sweep of Monmouth since April 25, 2009. Knox won that twinbill at home 7-1 and 7-3.
The Fighting Scots began the weekend on a three-game winning streak after downing the Prairie Fire 6-5 in 10 innings and 2-1 April 17 at Glasgow Field and outslugging Illinois Wesleyan 10-7 April 20 at home. Monmouth's only loss in the past eight games was a 3-0 setback April 11 at home against Augustana College (19-7).
Knox won the first game of the doubleheader in dramatic fashion. After trailing 6-2 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Prairie Fire offense chipped away while the pitching settled in and held Monmouth scoreless over the final three innings.
Knox scored single tallies in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to cut the Scot lead to 6-5 entering the bottom of the ninth. The Prairie Fire took advantage of nine walks combined by Monmouth starting pitcher Ray Gerard and reliever Lucas Skul. Gerard walked six batters and Skul three -- seven of the nine free passes issued in the sixth through ninth innings.
Sophomore Kyle Walenga (San Francisco, California) led off the bottom of the ninth with a single off Skul. Senior Carl Hammer (Cambridge, Illinois), who ran for Walenga, moved to second base on a wild pitch.
Sophomore Matt Lee (Fullerton, California) pinch-hit for sophomore C.J. Foster (Batavia, Illinois). Lee unsuccessfully tried to sacrifice bunt Hammer to third base and struck out on a 3-2 count for the first out of the inning. Senior co-captain Bob Dempster (Oak Park, Illinois) came through in the next at-bat with a single that scored Hammer to tie the game at 6-6.
Sophomore Mike Schroeder (Glenview, Illinois) made it back-to-back singles and moved junior Kyle Grimes (Lawrence, Kansas) -- who entered the game to run for Dempster -- to second base. First-year infielder Phil Tallman (Park Ridge, Illinois), who drove in both of the Prairie Fire's runs in the second inning and added a sacrifice fly RBI in the sixth, struck out in his bid for another big hit. Junior Dexter Brown (Saint Joseph, Minnesota) singled to load the bases for junior David Jewell (Spring Grove, Illinois).
Skull missed with four straight pitches to walk Jewell and force Grimes home with the game-winning run.
Colin Davis '11
Senior Jordan Ball (Cuba, Illinois) picked up the win in relief. Ball (1-3) tossed two shutout innings and allowed just one hit while striking out three. Senior Colin Davis (Canton, Illinois) got the start and struck out five in his 6 2/3 innings of work.
Bryan Leslie (Richmond, Illinois) came on in relief of Davis in the seventh inning. The first-year pitcher got the only batter he faced to ground out with runners on first and second base.
Skul (3-2) took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out three in his two innings on the mound. Gerard gave up four runs on four hits and struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings.
The Scots plated a run in the first inning on an RBI single by Ryan Crandall. Matt Young and Jordan Gaither hit back-to-back solo homers in the second inning to extend the lead to 3-0.
Tallman drove home Dempster and Foster with a single in the second inning to cut the Monmouth advantage to 3-2. The Scots made it 4-2 in the fifth inning on a long home run by Caleb Ruyle, who along with Young had three hits. Young hit an RBI triple and Gaither drove home a run with a single to give Monmouth its biggest lead of the game at 6-2.
The Scots outhit the Prairie Fire 13-9. Brown, Dempster and first-year outfielder Erik Smoy had two hits apiece for Knox.
"We've been preaching compete and good things will happen," Prairie Fire Coach Jami Isaacson said. The young Knox team, with 20 first-year and sophomore players, was rewarded for competing with a thrilling victory. "We'll see how they respond," Isaacson said.
Knox responded in a big way in the second game against Monmouth.
The Scots grabbed a brief 1-0 lead in the third inning when Ruyle singled and an error in the outfield allowed Brad Winkler -- who also singled to lead off the inning -- to score.
The Prairie Fire answered with five runs for an early lead.
Tallman got things started when he drew a walk from Monmouth starter Larry Milsteadt then stole second base. Jewell doubled Tallman home to tie the game at 1-1. Milsteadt struck out Brown before issuing back-to-back walks to Smoy and first-year outfielder Jackson White (Grayslake, Illinois) to load the bases. The next two batters, Walenga and sophomore Ryan Hoffman (Sugar Grove, Illinois), both doubled home a pair of runs to put Knox on top 5-1.
That was enough offense for first-year pitcher Paul Mills (Moline, Illinois), who was sharp and shut down the potent Monmouth College offense. Mills (1-2) earned his first win of the season after scattering five hits over six innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Knox exploded for eight runs on eight hits in the fifth inning to put the game out of reach at 13-1.
The big blast was a grand slam by Smoy off Nick Ryba, who entered the game in relief of Milsteadt with one out and the bases loaded. The Prairie Fire scored 11 runs on nine hits against Milsteadt (4-3), who also walked five in his 4 1/3 innings and suffered the loss.
The Fighting Scots played long ball again in the seventh inning when Crandall hit a three-run homer with two out for a 13-4 score.
The game ended in the bottom of the seventh inning when Ryba was called for a balk, scoring Smoy -- who walked to start the inning and advanced to third on a double by White.
Four Prairie Fire hitters drove in two or more runs, led by Smoy's four, and five had a pair of hits. Knox outhit Monmouth 13-7.
The wins by the Prairie Fire (7-17, 2-6) put the Fighting Scots (16-9, 5-3) three games behind Grinnell College in the loss column in the Midwest Conference South Division. The Pioneers (11-11, 6-0) have rolled off eight straight victories since their last loss on March 27 in Winter Haven, Florida.
The sweep also moves Knox past Illinois College (13-11, 1-5) in the division standings. The Prairie Fire and the Blueboys still have four games against each other. The first two are in one week in Jacksonville, Illinois.
Up next for Knox is a non-conference home game April 26 at 2:00 p.m. against Augustana College.
Follow Prairie Fire Athletics on Twitter: @knoxprairiefire
