MONMOUTH, Illinois - The Prairie Fire baseball team earned a conference split with Monmouth on Wednesday afternoon, winning game one 4-3 before dropping the second game 12-2.

Knox got the scoring going early when Evan Laws singled to bring home Andrew Garrett in the first inning of game one. Monmouth responded with a run of their own in the bottom half.

The Prairie Fire added another run in the second when Nicholas Nitti singled home Etienne Thomas.

Nitti singled again in the fourth to drive in Thomas Wilmot and Aidan McMurtrie and give Knox a 4-1 lead.

Jeff Ripka earned the win for the Prairie Fire with six strong innings on the mound. He allowed six hits and struck out six.

Brandon Ward came in for the three inning save. He struck out three batters and worked out of a jam in the ninth to close out the win.

Knox struck first again in game two as Nitti doubled home Garrett and McMurtrie in the third inning. 

The Fighting Scots responded with eight runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead and tacked on four more in the sixth to earn the victory.

Nitti finished the day with five hits in eight at bats. He drove in five runs. McMurtrie added three hits on the day.

"We battled in game one and came away with the win," said associate head coach James Clark. "Ripka and Ward both threw well and our offense came through when it mattered. We had two bad innings in game two, but we definitely need to hit better going forward."

The Prairie Fire return to action on April 13 as they host Grinnell for a MWC doubleheader.