The Prairie Fire baseball team dropped a pair of contests at Ripon on Saturday, falling 6-2 in the first game and 16-6 in the second. Knox (6-33, 3-17) closes out the regular season on Sunday, taking on Ripon one more time.
In Saturday's first game, Anthony Soliz was brilliant on the mound for Knox. He shut out Ripon through five innings. In the sixth, the Redhawks finally broke through with two runs. They added four more against the Prairie Fire bullpen in the next inning to pull away.
Knox responded in the eighth inning as Nicholas Nitti's RBI scored Andrew Garrett, and added another run in the ninth when Thomas Wilmot scored on an RBI by Garrett. Wilmot finished the game with two hits.
In the second game, Knox started fast, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Nitti led off with a single, followed by a hit from Hayden Derlein. Jacob Halseth's sacrifice fly scored Nitti, and a sac fly from Wilmot plated Derlein.
The 2-0 lead stood until the second, when Ripon scored five runs. After the Redhawks added one in the fourth, Knox responded with two in the fifth.Â
Halseth and Aidan McMurtrie each singled, and Buckie Zamora was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Clayton Rice then doubled, scoring Halseth and McMurtrie for a 6-4 game.Â
Ripon answered with four in the sixth and two in the seventh for a 12-4 lead. Knox cut the deficit in the eighth by plating a pair.Â
With two out, Derlein, Halseth, and Wilmot walked to load the bases. McMurtrie then singled, bringing home Derlein and Halseth to make it 12-6. However, Ripon scored four in the bottom of the eighth to enforce the 10-run rule and end the game.Â
Halseth led the Knox offense with three hits and two runs scored. McMurtrie and Rice each added two RBI and two hits for the Knox cause.
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