Beloit and Knox combined for 61 runs as the squads split a doubleheader hosted by the Prairie Fire Saturday afternoon. Knox scored seven in the bottom of the ninth to take game one 16-14 but the Buccaneers bounced back for a 20-11 victory in the nightcap.
The offenses thrived from the onset as the two teams combined to tally 35 hits including 15 extra base knocks and eight homeruns in the first game.
Nick Schmidt set the tone leading off the game with a four-bagger. A few batters later
Matt O'Leary followed suit with a three-run blast and
Drew Freitag's double added another tally to give Beloit the early 5-0 lead.
Knox responded with an RBI double and a three-run bomb in the bottom of the frame to pull to within one and the rest of the game followed a similar path. The Prairie Fire ended up claiming their first lead, 7-5, in the third with three runs.
The Bucs added to their total with an O'Leary RBI base knock followed by a
Brett Kiger two-run homer. Austin De la Cruz homered in the same inning as Beloit reclaimed the lead 10-7 after four-and-a-half.
Once again, the Prairie Fire came back with the long ball, a two-run shot to pull to within one. This time Beloit held, and extended, their lead in the subsequent innings.
James Wicker drove in a run on a single in the sixth.
Garrison Ferone and Kiger both registered base hits that plated a total of three runs to give the Bucs a 14-9 advantage.
After a scoreless bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth, Knox was down to its final set of outs. The Prairie Fire offense exploded in the bottom of the frame using a single, double, and two, two-run blasts to register the walkoff, 16-14, win.
Bronson Balholm, Ferone, and O'Leary all recorded three hits in the game as O'Leary added five RBI.
Three Buc hurlers saw action on the mound with
Jake Matise suffering the loss in relief to move to 3-1 this season.
Game two was more of the same with the exception of the scoreline. The teams combined for 31 runs on 31 hits but this time the Bucs held the majority of tallies in the run column.
Beloit took the lead in the first once again, this time on Balholm's sacrifice fly that plated Schmidt. The Prairie Fire responded with a two run homer in the bottom half of the frame to take a 2-1 lead.
Schmidt took one for the team with the bases loaded to tie the game in the second before Balholm registered his second sac fly in as many at bats to give Beloit the lead. Ferone's long ball in the next at bat brought in three more to give Beloit a 6-2 lead.
The squads traded runs over the next few innings before the Buc offense exploded for five runs in the sixth. Kiger singled in the frame to plate two.
AJ Fitzpatrick registered a RBI hit-by-pitch while
Evan Zenger brought in another with a sacrifice fly. The fifth run of the inning came off of a wild pitch as Beloit built an eight-run cushion, 17-9, heading into the bottom of the sixth.
O'Leary and
Mitch Campbell recorded the final two RBI for Beloit in the game as the another run would score on an error in the ninth for a 20-9 lead. Knox would bring two across in the bottom of the frame but the Bucs got out of the inning on a fielder's choice and groundout.
Balholm and O'Leary added to their great days in the batter's box with three hits apiece. With two more RBI in the contest, O'Leary brings his total to 21 over the last eight games. His 39 so far this season leads the league.
Matthew Starr got the start and picked up the win on the mound striking out five in five innings of work.
Zachary Miller and Wicker came in to split the final four innings of relief.
