GALESBURG, Ill. — Playing in winds of 20-25 miles per hour with gusts up to about 40 mph, the Knox College baseball team split its home-opening doubleheader against visiting Maranatha Baptist on Friday afternoon. The Prairie Fire (8-7) ran away with the opener, 15-6, but the Sabercats (3-11) rallied in game two to squeak out a 10-9 victory.

Knox swatted a trio of home runs with the wind at their backs, its first three of the 2025 season. By the time the first long ball left the yard, the Prairie Fire already had an 8-0 lead in the second inning on the strength of two-run doubles off the bats of senior Holden Jones and junior Thomas Wilmot. Jones provided the first blast of the year with a two-run bomb to plate Wilmot for a 10-0 lead.

While Maranatha Baptist took advantage of a leadoff error in the third to score four unearned runs, senior Tre Chatman III clapped back with a solo shot down the left-field line to start the bottom half. The Sabercats scored twice in the fourth, but it was senior Etienne Thomas's three-run blast in the fifth that capped the scoring.

First-year southpaw Zach Rodrigues (1-0) picked up his first collegiate victory by hurling four frames in the seven-inning contest, surrendering the six runs, but only two earned, on seven hits and one walk while striking out three. First-year Jacob Halseth, junior Joe Williams and first-year J.P. Gutierrez each tossed a scoreless stanza to close out the victory.

Jones finished the game 2-for-3 with a career-high five RBIs, while Chatman scored four runs and junior Andrew Garrett had two hits and scored three times. Both Wilmot and sophomore Nicholas Nitti were perfect at the plate with one hit, one walk and two hit by pitches.

Taking the loss for the Sabercats was Cameron Curcuro (1-1), who allowed 10 runs, six earned, in just 1.1 innings.

It looked like it would be more of the same in game two as Knox jumped out to an 8-1 lead through four innings. The runs came from peppering the ball around the field as all of the Prairie Fire's 11 hits in the contest were singles. Sophomore Tyler Kemp scored three runs and sophomore Aidan McMurtrie went 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.

But after first-year Jackson Phillips threw three scoreless innings in his collegiate debut, Maranatha Baptist got to the Knox bullpen. A wild pitch in the fourth allowed its first run to score, then the Sabercats exploded for five runs in the fifth to close the gap to two. Three more in the sixth gave them the lead, and another tally in the seventh put them up by two, 10-8.

MBU reliever Joe Anderson (1-2), who came on in the fifth and already had two shutout innings under his belt, got the first two outs in the seventh on strikes before the Prairie Fire threatened. Halseth pinch hit and walked, as did Wilmot. Thomas then reached on a throwing error, allowing Halseth to score and putting the tying and winning runs in scoring position. But Anderson got the final out on a roller to short to end the game and snap the Sabercats' four-game skid.

Lucas Fujii (0-1) was stuck with the loss after yielding three runs in two-thirds of an inning.

Knox begins Midwest Conference action tomorrow at home with Ripon College (4-8) in town for a three-game series. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at noon, as will Sunday's single game with live video and stats available through the official website of Knox Athletics, PrairieFire.Knox.edu.