The Knox College baseball team split a doubleheader with Cornell on Saturday, winning the opener 10-5 before dropping the nightcap 9-8. The Prairie Fire (4-19, 2-4 Midwest Conference) clinched the series by taking two of three games against the Rams.
The opener centered on starting pitcher
Jeff Ripka, who went six innings and allowed no runs and one hit. To secure the win for Knox, Jeff Baker and
Patrick Shannon handled the final three innings.
Building on strong pitching, the Prairie Fire had a strong start, plating a run in the first inning on
Nicholas Nitti's sacrifice fly. Knox added to the advantage in the second inning as
Andrew Garrett drove home a run with another sacrifice fly. After
Hayden Derlein scored on a wild pitch,
Thomas Wilmot capped the inning with a two-run double.
Knox added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, then broke open the game with a three-run sixth. Derlein scored on a wild pitch,
Parker Engel brought home a run with a groundout, and
Tyler Kemp added an RBI walk.
Ultimately, the runs proved more than enough for the Knox pitchers.
Turning to the second game, Knox trailed 9-2 in the fifth. The Prairie Fire scored three runs that inning, then added one in the seventh and two in the eighth, but never tied the game.
Knox is off until Tuesday afternoon, when they resume Midwest Conference play, hosting Beloit.
