The Beloit College baseball team took the three-game series against Knox College after splitting with the Prairie Fire Sunday. Knox took the first game of the twinbill with a walkoff 5-4 before Beloit came back with a 14-4 (7 inn.) win in the nightcap.
The Bucs took an early lead in game one with
Matt O'Leary doubling a run in for the first run of the contest. The Prairie Fire responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame and added a third in the bottom of the second.
That score held until the top of the sixth. O'Leary sparked the inning for Beloit with a one-out single.
Brett Kiger followed with a double as O'Leary showcased his speed coming in to score on the hit. A flyout and an intentional walk had runners on the corners for
AJ Fitzpatrick who tallied the equalizer with a RBI single.
The the top of the seventh,
James Wicker gave Beloit the lead, driving
Garrison Ferone in with a single to make it 4-3.
Knox responded in their half of the frame on a solo blast.
Beloit had a fantastic opportunity in the top of the eighth as Fitzpatrick doubled and stole third with no outs but the Bucs couldn't push him in. The Bucs also had a runner in scoring position in the top of the ninth with one out but were unable to bring the go ahead run across.
A single to leadoff the bottom of the ninth for Knox was followed by a sacrifice bunt to push the runner into scoring position. A two-out single brought the run in for the Prairie Fire walkoff win.
O'Leary and Fitzpatrick each tallied three hits to lead the Beloit offense.
Kaiya Nishino suffered the loss in 2.2 innings of relief.
The Bucs responded with an offensive onslaught. Beloit tallied two runs in each the first and second innings before adding a single run in the fifth. In the sixth, the Bucs plated four before exploding for five runs in the seventh.
Ferone, O'Leary and Kiger led the offense with two hits a piece. Both of Ferone's hits were two-baggers and he added two stolen bases, the first an ever-rare steal of home for the first run of the game. O'Leary registered a two-run homer in the top of the seventh.
Jacob Sligar picked up the win on the mound scattering five hits across five innings of work while striking out two. He improves to 3-1 on the mound for Beloit this season.
