Game One

Game Two

The Prairie Fire needed to sweep Saturday's doubleheader at Illinois College to keep its playoff hopes alive.  The Blueboys responded by coming from behind to win both games.

Illinois College trailed 3-1 in the fifth inning before rallying to win game one 7-4 and snap a five-game losing streak.  The Prairie Fire scored five runs in first inning of game two for an early lead before I.C. put together a big sixth to post a 9-8 victory.

Knox took a 1-0 lead when the second hitter of the game, first-year outfielder Erik Smoy (Hoffman Estates, Illinois), drilled his second home run of the season off Illinois College starting pitcher Brian Davenport.

I.C. tied the game at 1-1 with a run in the second inning off Prairie Fire senior hurler Colin Davis (Canton, Illinois).  The Blueboys opened the inning with a single and scored on Tim Denney's RBI double.

The Fire added a pair of runs in the third for a 3-1 advantage.  Davenport walked the first two hitters, juniors Dexter Brown (Saint Joseph, Minnesota) and David Jewell (Spring Grove, Illinois).  Smoy executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move up both runners for first-year utility man Jackson White (Grayslake, Illinois), who made the Blueboys pay with a double that scored both Brown and Jewell.

Illinois College sliced the Knox lead to 3-2 when Ian Vandeford homered in the fifth.  The hosts plated three more runs on three hits in the sixth inning to take a 5-3 lead.  The big hit was a double by Paul Ferrero that scored a pair of runners that reached on a single and a walk.

The Prairie Fire closed the deficit to 5-4 in the eighth on a run-scoring single by senior Jordan Ball (Cuba, Illinois). 

I.C. put the game away with two more runs in the bottom of the eighth.

The Blueboys outhit the Prairie Fire 10-7 in the game.  White was 2-for-4 and Smoy went 1-for-2 with two runs scored to lead the Knox offense.

Davenport (4-3) settled in after giving up the three early runs.  He pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with eight strikeouts.  Matt Pardo pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his first save of the season.

Davis (2-3) took the loss.  He tossed 5 1/3 innings and gave up five runs, seven hits and struck out one.  First-year pitcher Bryan Leslie (Richmond, Illinois) threw 1 2/3 innings of relief and allowed two runs on two hits.  Ball pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Fire.

Knox knocked out Illinois College's game two starting pitcher Nick Visconti after just 1/3 of an inning.  The Prairie Fire scored five runs on three hits in the first inning for an early 5-0 lead.

The first two hitters, Jewell and Smoy, reached base with singles.  A strike out of White was the only out Visconti recorded.  He hit sophomore Kyle Walenga (San Francisco, California) to load the bases then walked Ball for the first score of the game.

The Fire added a second run on a passed ball.  Senior Bob Dempster (Oak Park, Illinois) singled for a 3-0 lead.  Sophomore Mike Schroeder (Glenview, Illinois) scored Ball on a sacrifice fly to right field for a 4-0 lead.  The fifth and final run of the inning scored on an error by catcher Caleb Sawyer.

Illinois College scored a run in the first and another in the second off Prairie Fire first-year starter Paul Mills (Moline, Illinois) to cut the deficit to 5-2.  Taylor Springer's solo homer with two outs scored the second run for the Blueboys.

Knox made it a 6-2 lead when Ball hit his first home run of the season in the sixth inning off McManus.

I.C. scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth.  Terry Davis led off the inning with a home run off Mills, who then walked the next hitter.  He was replaced by sophomore reliever Gabe Ayers (Hanna City, Illinois). 

Ayers walked the first batter he faced, got the next one to fly out, then gave up an RBI single to Springer that whittled the Knox lead down to 6-4.

An error with the bases-loaded got I.C. within 6-5.  Ayers got an infield pop fly for the second out of the inning.  The Blueboys brought in Brandon Hott to hit for Ryan Howard with the bases loaded.  Hott responded by hitting a grand slam to put I.C. on top 9-6.

Smoy hit his second homer of the day and third of the season, a two-run blast in the seventh inning, to reduce the Illinois College lead to 9-8.

The trio of Nathan Jones, Grant Boehne and Pardo held the Prairie Fire scoreless over the final two innings to help I.C. hold on.  Jones allowed a hit and walked two in 2/3 of an inning, Boehne got the only hitter he faced to ground out and Pardo, despite allowing three hits in the top of the ninth, prevented Knox from scoring and earned his second save in as many games.

McManus (2-4) was the winning pitcher after he worked 6 2/3 innings of relief and allowed three hits on three runs - one of them earned - and struck out six.

Ayers (1-4) suffered the loss in relief of Mills.  Ayers surrendered five runs, only one earned, and four hits in one inning.  First-year pitcher Peter Marquardt (Clarendon Hills, Illinois) threw two perfect innings of relief and struck out two.

Knox outhit I.C. (15-11, 3-5 MWC) 10-8.  Jewell, Smoy, White and Walenga had two hits apiece while Smoy and Ball each had two RBIs.

The Prairie Fire (7-19, 2-7 MWC) is on the road for the next four games, beginning March 3 with a doubleheader against Augustana College followed by another twinbill on Wednesday against Millikin University.

The games at Augustana start at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m.