GALESBURG, Illinois - The Prairie Fire baseball team split a doubleheader with conference foe Grinnell on Saturday.
 
Knox used a five-run first inning to take control of game one early thanks to a grand slam by Kobe Shutter. The Pioneers scored a pair in the fifth inning, but the Prairie Fire responded with three more runs in the bottom half. Knox tacked on another run in each of the next two innings and a pair of home-runs in the eighth gave the Prairie Fire a 13-2 victory in game one.
 
Grinnell struck first in game two when they pushed across a run in the top of the first inning. The Pioneers added three more runs in the top of the fifth, but Knox scored two in the sixth and one in the eighth to bring the score within one. Grinnell added some insurance in the top of the ninth and snuffed out a rally by the Prairie Fire to win 5-3.
 
Brendan Powers and Dalton James each tallied five hits on the day to lead the Prairie Fire. Shutter finished the day with six RBI and added three hits. Juston Woodard racked up four hits and Connor Gwaltney added a pair. Shutter, James, Powers, and Ben Bucher each blasted home-runs.
 
"It was great to see the offensive output in the first game," said associate head coach James Clark. "We played well all day and came up just shot in game two. We will battle again tomorrow and see if we can't come away with two wins."
 
Knox will look to win the series when they travel to Grinnell on April 7.