Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
BELOIT, Wisconsin – The Prairie Fire had a big day at the plate and never trailed in a doubleheader sweep against Beloit College on Monday.

Knox broke out for a 12-4 win in the first game, and then held off a late charge by the Buccaneers to win the finale 11-8.  The visitors banged out a total of 31 hits, including 10 for extra bases, drew 11 walks, and swiped six bases in the twinbill.

A four-run first in the opener set the tone for the Prairie Fire.  Sophomore Drake Sykes (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) smacked an RBI double, stole third base, and scored on an error to make it 2-0.  Two more runs scored on doubles by first-year Matt McCaffrey (Wilmette, IL, New Trier) and junior Austin Bevenue (Millstadt, IL, Belleville Althoff).

Knox (5-7) ripped seven hits and scored six times in the second frame. Sykes doubled home another run and scored on a single by McCaffrey.  A sacrifice fly to left by senior Austen Lake (Albers, IL, Breese Central), an RBI single by sophomore Kam Wells (Champaign, IL, Champaign Central), and a two-run double by first-year Auggie Ward (Freeburg, IL, Gibault) extended the lead to 10-0.

First-year Zach Chainuck (Plainfield, IL, Plainfield East) and junior Jeremy Gogoel (Elgin, IL, Hampshire) combined for six shutout innings on the mound to help preserve the big advantage by the Prairie Fire.

Beloit (10-6) scored all four of its runs in the bottom of the seventh after loading the bases on a pair of walks and a hit batter.  An RBI single, a walk, and two wild pitches cut the deficit to 10-4.

A two-out, two-run double by Ward with the sacks packed in the eighth inning closed out the scoring.

Knox touched up three Buccaneer pitchers for a season-high 17 hits.  Sykes and McCaffrey led the way with four hits each, Bevenue added three, and Ward drove in a season-high four runs.

Chainuck (1-2) earned his first win.  He surrendered three hits, walked three, and struck out two.

The Prairie Fire manufactured a run to take the early lead in the nightcap.  Sophomore Paul Sanders (Rock Island, IL, Rock Island) led off the game with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by first-year Kosuke Nishitani (Plano, TX, Plano West), stole third, and scored on a ground ball to second base off the bat of Sykes.

Knox put up two more runs in the second on a single by Sanders and a ground ball by Sykes with the bases loaded that brought home sophomore Derek Beaupre (Pekin, IL, Pekin).

Beloit plated two in the fifth and threatened to tie the score with only one out and a runner on third.  Sophomore hurler Alex Bell (Elgin, IL, Burlington Central) retired the next two hitters to get out of the inning.

The Prairie Fire got one of the runs back when senior Andrew Sparrow (Sullivan, IL, Sullivan) singled in McCaffrey in the top of the sixth.

McCaffrey and Sparrow also played big roles in a five-run outburst in the seventh.  McCaffrey cracked a two-run double and scored on a single by Bevenue.  Sparrow then blasted a two-run homer to stretch the lead to 9-2.

The Buccaneers, riding a three-game winning streak coming into the games against Knox – including a doubleheader sweep at Monmouth College on Saturday – responded with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to make it 9-4.

The Prairie Fire made Beloit pay for back-to-back walks to open the eighth inning, and two fielding miscues.  First-year Brandon Dempsey (Washington, IL, Washington) slashed an RBI single and came all the way around to score on errors by the center fielder and the catcher to increase the lead to 11-4.

The Buccaneers turned the game into a nail biter in their half of the eighth inning after scoring four runs.  With runners on second and third and the potential tying run at the plate, first-year pitcher Tom Janczur (Darien, IL, Downer's Grove South) ended the threat by inducing a ground ball to shortstop for the third out.

Janczur worked out of another jam in the bottom of the ninth with a strikeout to end the game and strand two more runners in scoring position.  He tossed 1.2 innings of relief to earn the save.

Senior Ryder Borre (Wilmette, IL, New Trier) started the game for Knox on the bump and earned the win.  Borre (2-1) tossed four shutout innings and allowed only one hit and two walks to go with three strikeouts.

McCaffrey and Sparrow led the Prairie Fire's 14 hit attack with three each.  Sparrow drove in three runs and scored twice, and McCaffrey had two RBI and two runs scored.  Sanders, Nishitani, and Dempsey added two hits apiece.

Knox begins Midwest Conference South Division play with a doubleheader at preseason favorite Cornell College on Thursday.  The first game is at 4:30 p.m.  The Rams (6-7) have won three straight, all at home against Carroll University last weekend, going into a non-conference contest at UW-Platteville on Wednesday.