GALESBURG, Ill. — Sophomore Aidan McMurtrie delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the 10th to give Knox College a 7-6 victory over visiting Grinnell College on Sunday afternoon at Blodgett Field and end the season on a high note. The clutch hit made a winner out of senior Brandon Ward, who gave a Herculean effort on the mound in his final collegiate game, as the Prairie Fire concluded the season at 15-23 overall and 7-14 in the Midwest Conference. The Pioneers, which had already clinched the fourth seed for the conference tournament next weekend, are now 23-17 overall and 11-10 in the league.

Ward (5-2) pitched all 10 innings for Knox, and although he allowed six runs, all of them were unearned. The right-hander threw 144 pitches, surrendered only five hits, walked only two and struck out a career-high 13 batters.

Tied at five to start the 10th, Grinnell put runners on first and second with nobody out on two errors and an intentional walk. But Ward got a force at third on a sacrifice bunt attempt, then induced an infield popup, putting him on the brink of escaping the jam. But Mac McCain, who had three of the five Pioneer hits, poked a line single to right that brought home the go-ahead run. Unfazed, Ward struck out his 13th batter to end the inning and give the Prairie Fire offense a chance to come back.

Pinch hitter Luke Mathieu got things started by getting plunked to start the bottom half, senior Holden Jones fisted a soft liner down the right-field line for a base hit and sophomore Tyler Kemp dropped down a bunt single for his third hit of the game. McMurtrie took two pitches outside of the zone from Kenji Kajita (2-3), then rolled a ball to the left of the shortstop, whose range was limited due to playing in for a force at the plate. Both Mathieu and pinch runner Tyler Thiem raced home to score the winning runs and set off a celebration around home plate.

Knox took an early lead in the first thanks to a pair of Grinnell errors. Senior J.D. Ruhs drove home one run with a sacrifice fly, and other crossed the plate when a two-out grounder was thrown wildly to first for a 2-0 lead.

Ward had retired the first nine batters in order, but two errors to start the fourth put him in a bind. Ethan Crawford delivered an RBI single and McCain lofted a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Following a walk to Connor Goodson, Sean Tashjian got hold of a 1-1 fastball and lined it off the foul pole down the right-field line for a three-run homer and a 5-2 Pioneer lead.

In the fifth, the Prairie Fire loaded the bases with nobody out on singles by McMurtrie and first-year Hayden Derlein, and a walk to Druhs. Juniors Andrew Garrett and Thomas Wilmot each drove home a run with a grounder to second, while the tying run crossed the plate when the Grinnell right field dropped a fly in shallow right-center.

• The 15 victories are the most for the Prairie Fire since they won 17 games in 2017, as are the seven conference victories (nine in 2017).
• The last Knox pitcher to fan 13 batters in a game was Alec Jordan against Cornell College on April 29, 2016.
• This was the Prairie Fire's third walk-off win of the season.
• Not only did Knox recognize its senior class before the game, it also paid homage to long-time head athletic trainer Scott Sunderland who is retiring this summer after more than three decades with the school.