Game One
Game Two
The Prairie Fire struggled to score runs against Grinnell College's talented pitching staff and lost both games of a doubleheader, 4-1 and 9-1, April 9 in Grinnell, Iowa.
Phil Coke threw a complete-game seven hitter to earn the win for the Pioneers in the first game. He allowed one run and struck out eight with no walks in the 4-1 Grinnell victory.
The Prairie Fire countered with first-year hurler Paul Mills (Moline, Illinois), who also turned in a quality outing. Mills (0-2) tossed 6 1/3 innings and allowed eight hits, three earned runs with two strike outs and two walks. Senior Colin Davis (Canton, Illinois) came on for Mills and pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing only a harmless seventh inning double.
The Pioneers got on the board first with a run in the third inning on a pair of two out hits and a walk. Grinnell extended the lead to 2-0 with an unearned run in the fourth inning on a hit and a pair of Prairie Fire miscues in the field. The lead grew to 3-0 when the Pioneers scored again in the bottom of the sixth after Greg Suryn led off with a double and scored on back-to-back sacrifices.
The Prairie Fire scored in the seventh to cut the deficit to 3-1. Sophomore C.J. Foster (Batavia) doubled off of Coke to start the inning and advanced to third on a single by sophomore Michael Schroeder (Glenview, Illinois). Foster scored when first-year infielder Phil Tallman (Park Ridge, Illinois) hit into a double-play.
The Pioneers reclaimed a three-run lead at 4-1 in the seventh inning on an RBI single by slugging catcher Mike Nodzenski.
Grinnell outhit Knox 9-7. The teams combined for seven errors - four by the Prairie Fire and three by the Pioneers.
Grinnell scored six runs on four hits in the third inning of game two to break a 1-1 tie and go on to post a 9-1 win to complete the sweep and win all four Midwest Conference South Division games against Knox this season.
Ryan Hoffman '13
The Prairie Fire scored its only run in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Ryan Hoffman (Sugar Grove, Illinois) led off with a single up the middle off of Grinnell starter Andrew Myers. He came around to score on a double by senior Jordan Ball (Cuba, Illinois). Myers prevented any further damage by striking out Schroeder and getting senior Aaron Willits (Aledo, Illinois) and Tallman to ground out to end the inning.
The Pioneers tied the game at 1-1 in their half of the second inning with two outs. Matt Blumenreich singled and moved to second on a wild pitch by Knox starter, sophomore Ryan Stoens (Bartonville, Illinois). Blumenreich scored on a single by Kainoa Inafuku.
Stoens (0-3), who suffered the loss, was lifted in Grinnell's big third frame. He lasted 2 1/3 innings and gave up five runs, four hits, walked two and threw two wild pitches. Davis relieved Stoens and allowed an earned run on two hits in 1/3 of an inning pitched. First-year hurler Peter Marquardt (Clarendon Hills, Illinois) coaxed a groundout for the third out of the third inning.
Grinnell added two more runs in the fifth inning off of Marquardt to extend its lead to 9-1.
First-year pitcher Bryan Leslie (Richmond, Illinois) and sophomore Gabe Ayers (Hanna City, Illinois) combined to toss 3 2/3 shutout innings of relief. Leslie threw 1 2/3 hitless innings while Ayers gave up three hits and struck out one in his two innings of work.
Myers (2-2) went seven innings and gave up one run on three hits for Grinnell. He struck out six and walked four to earn the victory. Dugan Knoll pitched two innings of shutout relief, allowing two hits and one walk.
The Pioneers (9-11, 4-0 MWC South) outhit the Fire 12-5. Hoffman led the way with a pair of hits for Knox. Ball, first-year outfielder Erik Smoy (Hoffman Estates, Illinois) and sophomore outfielder Matt Lee (Fullerton, California) had the Prairie Fire's other hits.
Knox (5-14, 0-4 MWC South) resumes play April 12, when the team steps out of conference for a home game against William Penn University. The Prairie Fire will play the Statesmen (18-17) in one nine-inning game that's scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m.
