Game 1 box score
Game 2 box score
Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire won its third straight game but couldn’t make it four in a row in a doubleheader split with Robert Morris University – Springfield on Tuesday at Blodgett Field.
Knox defeated the Eagles 11-4 in the first game. RMU rebounded with a 10-4 victory against the Fire in the nightcap. Knox won two of the three games played between the teams this season after coming from behind to defeat Robert Morris 6-3 on April 12 in Springfield.
The Prairie Fire scored five runs in the first inning and led 9-2 after three innings played. The Fire added single tallies in the fifth and sixth frames while RMU plated a run in the fourth and fifth innings to account for the scoring.
Knox (12-14) had 15 hits in the opener. First-year Andrew Sparrow (Sullivan, IL, Sullivan) had his biggest game for the Prairie Fire with three hits and three runs batted in. Sophomores Phil Tallman (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) and Jackson White (Grayslake, IL, Grayslake Central) also had three hits apiece. Tallman added four runs and an RBI while White drove in a pair of runs.
Sophomore Bryan Leslie (Richmond, IL, Richmond-Burton) earned his third win of the season in relief. Sophomore Dustin Armstrong (Cincinnati, OH, Country Day) picked up his second save after throwing two shutout innings of relief. He did not allow a hit and struck out two.
The Eagles rebounded in the nightcap by scoring in the first five innings for a 10-0 lead. The Prairie Fire plated four runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit to 10-4.
Tallman drove in two runs with a double, White knocked in the third run of the frame when he grounded out and sophomore Erik Smoy (Hoffman Estates, IL, Hoffman Estates) followed with a run scoring double.
Neither team scored again. RMU outhit Knox 14-8 in the contest.
Tallman led the Prairie Fire offense with two hits and two runs batted in and junior Michael Schroeder (Glenview, IL, Glenbrook South) contributed a pair of hits.
Knox, which has won six of its last eight games, saw its three game winning streak snapped with the loss in the nightcap.
Junior hurler Nikko Juarez (Momence, IL, Bishop McNamara) started for the Fire and took the loss. Juarez (0-1) allowed five runs, two of them earned, on five hits in three innings.
Knox resumes play on Saturday at home with a pair of key Midwest Conference South Division games against Illinois College (19-12, 4-6 MWC South). The Prairie Fire owns a league mark of 5-2 going into the twinbill with the Blueboys, which begins at 12:00.
The Knox seniors and retiring associate head coach Jim Isaacson will be recognized prior to the first game.
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