Sauget, Ill. - The Transylvania baseball team went 1-2 this weekend in a series played in Sauget, Illinois. The Pioneers lost to the Webster University Gorloks 13-7 on Friday, March 4, took a 6-5 win over the Benedictine University Eagles on Saturday March 5, and concluded the busy weekend with a 9-4 loss to the North Park University Vikings that same Saturday.
Against Webster, Jake Schmidt took the ball for the Pioneers, and their offense got off to a big start as TJ Keck blasted a three run homer in the top of the first. In the bottom of the frame the Gorloks responded with three of their own to tie it 3-3. Transylvania took the lead right back in the second from a Calvin Schubert sac fly, but from the third to the fifth innings Webster took charge and built up an 8-4 lead.
Faced with an 8-4 deficit, the Pioneers plated one as a Trent Pahl groundout scored Bryce Dreher. In the seventh and eighth innings, the Gorloks padded their lead taking a 13-5 lead into the ninth. Transy refused to go down quietly as Walter Munday hit a solo homer, the first of his career, to make it 13-6. The Pioneers loaded the bases and Seth Stevens was hit by a pitch to score another, but Webster escaped the rally to win 13-7.
Against Benedictine, the Pios continued their offensive momentum from the day before, and had another hot start. Trent Youngblood scored on a wild pitch, and Nick Wade's RBI single made it 2-0 Transy in the bottom of the first. The Pioneers plated 3 more runs in the second inning including a RBI double from freshman Seth Stevens. A Youngblood RBI single in the third made it 6-0 Transylvania, as freshman pitcher Connor Arnold kept the Eagles bats in check. Benedictine finally broke through in the fourth and fifth innings, managing to plate five to make it a 6-5 ballgame, but fellow first year Kaden Hill threw 4.0 huge innings out of the bullpen to protect the lead, giving Transy the 6-5 win.
Against North Park, the Pioneers scored in the first frame yet again in the form of a Wade double to make it 1-0. North Park tied the game in the second, but a Youngblood double made it 2-1 Transy. The Vikings responded in the fourth with a 5 run inning and took a 6-2 lead. Transy got another RBI double in the sixth, from Dreher, to cut into the deficit, but North Park found three more runs in the seventh to make it 9-3. In the bottom of the ninth, Youngblood smacked another RBI double but North Park shut the door and took the game 9-4.
With several tough matchups out of the way, Transylvania looks ahead in the season to a Tuesday, March 8 game at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky with a 6:00 PM scheduled start.
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