BELOIT, Wis. — The Knox College baseball team were unable to bring home a victory from Beloit College on Tuesday as the host Buccaneers swept a Midwest Conference doubleheader from the Prairie Fire by scores of 13-3 and 9-2. With its two victories, Beloit (21-11, 9-5 MWC) moved into a tie atop the league standings with Illinois College, while Knox (14-16, 6-8 MWC) fell two games back of fourth-place Monmouth in the race to qualify for the conference tournament on May 9-10.
The first game of the twinbill was a tight affair for six innings with the Buccaneers holding a 5-3 lead. But in the bottom of the seventh, Beloit exploded for eight runs, ending the game via the run-rule when Seth Brankey hit a two-run triple to complete the scoring.
The game began well for the Prairie Fire, scoring twice in the top of the first, only to have the Bucs match that total in the bottom half. Sophomore Aidan McMurtrie helped Knox reclaim the lead in the second with an infield single that brought home a run. Beloit waited an inning to respond this time, but an RBI single in the third knotted the game at three apiece.
A two-out wild pitch in the fourth allowed the Buccaneers to take their first lead of the day at 4-3, and a sacrifice fly in the sixth boosted their lead to two before the offensive outburst in the seventh.
Aiden Phipps (4-3) earned the win by completing six innings on the mound while surrendering three runs, one earned, on eight hits and two walks to go with four strikeouts. Harvey Pena was credited with his seventh save of the season for holding the two-run lead in the top of the seventh.
Taking the loss was sophomore Leo Dircks (1-3) for surrendering four runs, three earned, over five innings on seven hits without a walk while fanning four.
Beloit out-hit the Prairie Fire, 14-8, and Miles Souza hit a two-run homer during the eight-run seventh, his first long ball of the season.
In the nightcap, the Bucs jumped out to a 4-0 lead on five hits in the first, though Knox cut that deficit in half in the third when junior Henry Scholes scooted home from third on a wild pitch and McMurtrie had another RBI single. But some Knox wildness on the mound in the bottom half helped Beloit score three times to boost its lead to five. An unearned run in the fourth and a sacrifice fly in the sixth completed the scoring.
Five Buccaneer pitchers scattered 10 hits — three by junior Andrew Garrett — while allowing just two runs and striking out 11 along the way. Ben Schweit (5-2) was credited with the win after pitching a scoreless fifth frame.
First-year Jacob Halseth (3-4) did not escape the first inning and was stuck with the defeat.
Knox will attempt to regroup and avenge a home loss to Augustana College two weeks ago by traveling to Rock Island on Thursday to take on the Vikings at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live by Augustana and will be available for viewing through the official website of Knox Athletics, PrairieFire.Knox.edu.
