Box Score

Jacksonville, Ill. – The Prairie Fire scored eight runs in the final two innings and posted a 14-4 season-opening win on the road against MacMurray College on Tuesday afternoon.

Knox banged out 20 hits in the game.  Eight batters had two or more hits, led by senior Phil Tallman (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) with four to go along with three runs scored.

The host Highlanders grabbed a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the second inning off of senior hurler Paul Mills (Moline, IL, Moline), who started for the Prairie Fire and worked the first two innings.

Knox answered with three runs in the top of the third on an RBI single by first-year Paul Sanders (Rock Island, IL, Rock Island) and a two-run triple by senior Erik Smoy (Hoffman Estates, IL, Hoffman Estates) for a 3-1 lead.  The Prairie Fire remained on top the rest of the way.

Knox tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning.  Sophomore Blake Newberg (Moline, IL, Rock Island Alleman) singled home first-year Drew Osborn (Moline, IL, Moline) and Sanders followed with a single that scored Newberg.

MacMurray (1-4) plated a pair in the home half of the fourth to trim the deficit to 5-3.

First-year Ryan Weitendorf (New Lenox, IL, Lincoln-Way East) belted a solo home run in the fifth to push the Knox advantage to 6-3.  The Highlanders pulled within two again with a run in the bottom of the fifth.

The Prairie Fire bullpen held MacMurray scoreless the rest of the way while the offense put the game out of reach with a three run eighth and five runs in the top of the ninth.

Weitendorf added an RBI double and Osborn cracked a run-scoring single to highlight the top of the eighth inning.  Knox batters drew four walks, three of them with the bases loaded, while touching up the Highlanders' bullpen for three hits in the ninth.

Senior Peter Marquardt (Clarendon Hills, lL, Hinsdale Central) was one of four relievers to finish off the game for the Prairie Fire.  He tossed two innings and struck out two in his first appearance of the year.  Junior Ryder Borre (Wilmette, IL, New Trier) surrendered just one hit over his two innings.  First-year Alec Jordan (Spring Grove, IL, Richmond-Burton) punched out three batters in two innings out of the pen to earn the victory, and senior Dustin Armstrong (Columbus, OH, Worthington) pitched a scoreless ninth frame.

Osborn and Sanders both had three hits for Knox.  Smoy added two hits and drove in a team-high three runs while Weitendorf scored three times in addition to his two extra-base hits.  Newberg, senior Jackson White (Grayslake, IL, Grayslake Central), and junior Michael Bohnhoff (Omaha, NE, Mt. Michael Benedictine) also finished with two hits apiece.

The Prairie Fire resume play on March 18 against Fredonia State University in the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Florida.