Connor Gross
Kevin Krows/Millikin University
13
Winner Millikin MILLIKIN 3-7
1
Knox KCB 2-10
Winner
Millikin MILLIKIN
3-7
13
Final
1
Knox KCB
2-10
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Millikin MILLIKIN 1 2 4 2 0 2 2 13 10 0
Knox KCB 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 6

W: Kane, Kyle (1-0) L: A. Ponce (0-2)

3
Winner Millikin MILLIKIN 4-7
1
Knox KCB 2-11
Winner
Millikin MILLIKIN
4-7
3
Final
1
Knox KCB
2-11
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Millikin MILLIKIN 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 0
Knox KCB 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 1

W: Gross, Connor (1-0) L: T. Lowtharp (0-1) S: Beals, Brent (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Uses Incredible Pitching to Sweep Knox

The Millikin Baseball team swept Knox College in a Sunday afternoon doubleheader on March 24, 13-1 and 3-1 in Galesburg, Illinois.

The Big Blue used stellar pitching throughout the day to secure both victories, striking out 16 Prairie Fire hitters in game one and 10 in game two. In the seven inning first game, the Big Blue scored in all but one inning.

In game one, Millikin got on the board 1-0 in the first on a Mason Bruce groundball to the first baseman that scored Luke Azzarelli, who had walked earlier in the inning. The Big Blue added two more in the second inning and four in the third to jump ahead 7-1 on the backs of an RBI single by Azzarelli, as well as a pair of two-RBI doubles by Andrew Auton and Gabe Soria. The Big Blue added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning on a double steal by Bruce and Jon Walters to score Walters and advance Bruce to second, which made the game 8-1. Millikin added an unearned run in the fourth to make it 9-1.

Jake Stanton hit his third homerun of the season in the top of the sixth inning to make it 11-1 Millikin, and in the top of the seventh, an RBI single by Brent Beals and a sacrifice fly by Daniel Mendoza finished the scoring for the game.
Starting pitcher Adam Zuk struck out 9 of the thirteen hitters that he faced on the day, and relief pitchers Kyle Kane and Ryan Dobey struck out 5 of 8 and 3 of 5, respectfully for the total of 16 strikeouts of twenty-six Prairie Fire hitters faced. The 17 strikeouts tied the record for most in a game by a Big Blue pitching staff in school history, which was set against Lake Forest in 1962.
 
Game 2 featured a different style of game, in which the Big Blue had to manufacture runs against the Prairie Fire pitchers who were able to keep the Millikin hitters slightly more off-balanced than in game one. Beals led the way for the Big Blue at the plate, going 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Millikin again jumped out early in the game on a Bruce fielder's choice that scored Azzarelli. In the third inning, Stanton hit another fielder's choice that scored Beals. After Knox cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth inning, the game was scoreless until the top of the ninth when Millikin added an insurance run on a well-struck ball by Anthony Bryan to the third baseman that scored Trevor Durand. Bryan was 1-3 in game two with an RBI.

Connor Gross was nothing short of stellar for Millikin on the mound with catcher Merrik Eddington behind the plate. Gross had 9 strikeouts in his 8.1 innings of work, allowing just the one Prairie Fire run. Beals came in from second base to close out the game for Millikin with one out in the bottom of the ninth to earn the save with the winning run at the plate.

With the victories, Millikin improves to 4-7 on the year, and they look to continue their hot streak tomorrow, March 25 in a doubleheader at home against Wisconsin-Stout at Sunnyside Park in Decatur, set to begin at 1 p.m. For schedule updates and other Millikin athletics news, follow @BigBlueBaseball and @MUBigBlue on Twitter.
 
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