DAVENPORT, Fla. — The Knox College baseball team found itself trailing by eight runs after six innings and could not make up the difference as the Prairie Fire fell to Fredonia State on Saturday morning at Northeast Regional Park, 9-3. Christian Cabrera had four hits to lead the 14-hit attack for the Devils (7-3), while sophomore Aidan McMurtrie provided a two-run triple for Knox (6-5).
After a quick first inning, Fredonia State touched sophomore southpaw Sammy Garcia (0-1) for three runs in the second with the big blow being an RBI triple off the bat of A.J. Roach.
Garcia departed after four inning with just those three runs charged to him, but the Devils rudely greeted junior Jake Baker by tacking on three more runs in the fifth. Roach added a solo home run to his day, his first of the season, in the sixth, and Cabrera drove in another run with a single for an 8-0 lead.
A pair of hit batters to start the Knox seventh and a wild pitch allowed the first Prairie Fire run to scored, which Fredonia State got right back with a tally in the bottom half. With Knox down to its final out in the ninth, three sophomores put together a rally as Tyler Thiem singled, Nicholas Nitti doubled him to third and McMurtrie ripped his two-run triple to left-center. But that was all the Prairie Fire could muster in a last-ditch effort.
Michael Byrns (2-0) earned the victory on the mound for the Devils, striking out 12 in 6.2 innings of work while surrendering a solitary run on one hit, two walks and four hit batters. Knox was limited to four hits in the contest.
Now 2-3 during its spring trip to Florida, the Prairie Fire has another game bright and early on Sunday when they square off at Northeast Regional Park against Keuka College (5-8) at 9:30 a.m. (EDT). Fans who would like to watch online can purchase a subscription to BeTheBeast.com; links are provided for each game in Florida on the Knox baseball schedule at PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox Athletics.
