DAVENPORT, Fla. — A four-run second inning was not enough to carry Knox College to victory on Sunday morning at Northeast Regional Park as Keuka College (6-8) had a four-run frame of its own in the sixth to defeat the Prairie Fire (6-6), 7-5.
While Keuka was touching up Knox starter Jeff Ripka for single runs in each of the first three innings, the Prairie Fire bats caught fire in the second. Senior Holden Jones ripped a two-run triple, scoring sophomores Hunter Broers and Nicholas Nitti who had been hit by a pitch and singled, respectively. Senior Etienne Thomas single Jones home, and three batters later, junior Andrew Garrett rapped a base hit to plate Thomas.
In the sixth, sophomore Aidan McMurtrie boosted the Knox lead to two with a two-out RBI double, scoring Jones who had reached on an error to start the stanza.
But in the bottom half, Keuka strung together six hits, four of them driving in one run, to take a 7-5 lead. The Prairie Fire were able to get one base runner on base in each of the final three innings against reliever Mason Smith, but not more as Smith earned his first save of the season.
Hunter Corkran (2-0) picked up the win for finishing six innings while allowing five runs, four earned on seven hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts.
Ripka (3-1) suffered his first loss of the year for yielding seven runs on 12 hits over 5.2 innings.
Nitti led Knox's nine-hit attack with three knocks, and Jones scored two runs and drove in two.
Knox has one more game in Florida against Carleton College (5-3) on Monday evening at Northeast Regional Park before returning to Galesburg for its home opener on March 28. First pitch against the Knights is slated for 6:45 p.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.
