Game #1 box score

Game #2 box score

Jacksonville, IL – The Prairie Fire split a Midwest Conference South Division doubleheader on Sunday at Illinois College.

The Blueboys (10-5, 1-1 MWC South) won the first game 3-1.  Knox (5-8, 1-1 MWC South) responded with an 8-3 triumph in the finale.

Terry Davis smacked a three-run home run for IC in the fifth inning to provide all of the scoring in the first game.  Illinois College outhit Knox 8-7 in the opener.

Nate Jones allowed four hits in seven shutout innings to earn the win for IC. 

Junior Ryan Hoffman (Sugar Grove, IL, Marmion Academy) hit his first home run of the season for the Prairie Fire in the eighth inning.  He went 2-for-3 at the dish.  Sophomore Jackson White (Grayslake, IL, Grayslake Central) also had a multi-hit game for the Fire, going 3-for-4 with a stolen base.

Knox starter, sophomore Peter Marquardt (Clarendon Hills, lL, Hinsdale Central) (2-1), lost his first game on the mound.  He pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up three earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts and four walks.

The Prairie Fire got solid pitching and hitting in the second game to post the first league victory of the season.

Sophomore Dustin Armstrong (Cincinnati, OH, Country Day) provided a quality start on the bump but didn't figure in the decision.  He tossed 4 1/3 innings, surrendering just one earned run on three hits with two strikeouts.  Armstrong was relieved by sophomore Paul Mills (Moline, IL, Moline), who picked up the win.  Mills (1-2) threw 3 1/3 innings and allowed two unearned runs and two hits.

Illinois College scored a run in the first inning for a 1-0 lead.  Knox answered with a four-run fourth inning off IC starter Nick Visconti for a 4-1 advantage.  The Fire added single tallies in the sixth and seventh innings to extend the lead to 6-1.

IC plated two runs in the eighth get within 6-3.  The Prairie Fire scored a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning.

Sophomore Michael O'Connell (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with four RBI.  Junior Caleb Weaver (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) continued his torrid hitting (.489, 2 HR, 16 RBI) with a three hit, two RBI effort to go along with three runs scored.  Junior Kyle Walenga (San Francisco, CA, Waldorf) also contributed three hits and drove in a pair of runs.

The Fire tries to make it two straight wins on Monday with a non-conference game at Eureka College.  The Red Devils (2-7) and Knox share a common opponent in Illinois College.  Eureka defeated IC in a 17-14 slugfest at home on March 21

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