The offense was on full display as the Beloit College baseball team opened the season with a pair of wins at Knox College. The Buccaneers took the first game of the twinbill 9-6 and followed with a 19-18, 10-inning, victory in the nightcap.
Nick Schmidt set the tone right off the bat, pun intended, leading off game one with a homerun blast to open the scoring.
Matt Crandall notched his first homer of the season in his first at bat crushing a ball over the fence in the top of the second. Schmidt followed Crandall with a bunt single and came around to score on an extra base knock by
Bronson Balholm to make it 3-0 Beloit.
Knox got on the board with a four-bagger in the bottom of the inning but Beloit had the response after the teams posted a scoreless fourth.
In his third plate appearance of the season, Schmidt tagged his second homerun to open the fifth showcasing his abilities as a leadoff batter. After a scoreless sixth, the Bucs got back at it using a Crandall single, three walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a sacrifice fly to plate three more and take a 7-1 lead.
Beloit brought in two more in the eighth courtesy of Crandall's second homer of the contest and a
James Wicker RBI single to make it 9-2.
Knox pushed four runs across with the help of a two-out, three-run blast, but the Bucs got the final out of the frame to win the season opener 9-6.
Six of the team's 12 hits in the game went for extra bases including the four combined homeruns from Schmidt and Crandall. The duo was 6-9 at the plate with seven runs scored and the four RBI.
A.J. Parnell picked up his first win of the season on the mound allowing just one earned run while striking out five in five innings of work.
Kaiya Nishino came in for the final four innings of relief fanning five en route to the save.
The nightcap brought an even bigger offensive showcase from the two squads with 37 combined runs on 31 hits including 11 for extra bases.
Beloit plated four in the top of the first with Knox answering to tie the game in the bottom of the frame. The Bucs plated two more over the next two innings to take an 8-4 advantage but the Prairie Fire responded with five in the bottom of the fourth to take their first lead of the game 9-8.
The advantage went back and fourth until Knox plated two in the bottom of the eighth to take a 14-13 lead. Down to their final out,
Matt O'Leary singled to keep the Bucs alive.
Mitch Campbell drew a clutch, pinch hit walk to put runners on first and second.
Deven Irwin provided the tying base knock to plate O'Leary from second and send the game into extra innings.
The Bucs capitalized on free bases in the top of the tenth bringing five runs across the plate on just one hit. Beloit drew five walks and added a hit batter to bolster the inning. In the bottom of the frame, Knox plated four runs before the first out was registered to make it 19-18.
Jake Matise got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to pickup the save.
O'Leary had one of the hottest bats for the Bucs in the game going 3-4 at the plate with a homerun, a sacrifice fly, four runs scored, and four runs batted in.
Wicker struck out three in two innings of work to register his first win of the 2021 campaign.
The Bucs will host Knox for a pair of games Sunday, March 28 at the Ballpark at Strong Stadium beginning at noon. Spectators, including students, are not allowed at athletic events hosted by Beloit College. Buc fans can watch the game live via stream and follow with live stats. Links can be found on the
baseball schedule page.
