Article by: Colin Gowin
Around 65 degrees, sunny with a light wind, it was a great day for baseball at the Blackburn Baseball Field. The Beavers (9-18, 6-5 SLIAC) looked to extend their win streak to four games in a conference doubleheader against the Red Devils of Eureka College (5-16, 2-10).
Game One
Blackburn sophomore Reed Rusten got the start on the mound and threw a complete game to earn his first career win. “It feels pretty dang good. It took me a couple starts, but I finally got it. I felt really safe pitching to contact because the guys behind me were playing great defense. Plus, they hit the ball really well and got me a comfortable lead to pitch with, which is always nice to have,” said Rusten about getting his first win.
While, Rusten threw a great game, the bats provided the run support needed to get the W. The Beavers scored two runs in the first inning to set the tone and never looked back. A five run fifth inning and one more in the sixth allowed Blackburn to take the win, 8-2.
Blackburn’s key contributor in game one was senior Brock Hill. Hill hit .1000 at the plate (4-4), had one RBI and came across the plate three times himself. Other notable performances came from junior Joey Szerletich and senior Matt Mokriakow. Szerletich hit 2-3 with two RBIs and Mokriakow hit 2-4 with one RBI and two runs.
Game Two
Another first-win on the hill was in order for game two. Sophomore Jake Lochhead recorded his first career win with nine strikeouts in his 5.2 innings pitched. “This win was big for me because it was my first start at home and the feelings from pitching in high school came back to me. I trusted the defense to make plays and I was locating my spots early. The low-outside fastball was working for me all day and the only place the hitters could hit that was in the dirt,” said Lochhead.
The team accumulated a total of 18 hits in the game and scored 13 runs to take a 13-5 win. The Beavers left seven runners on base, which has been problematic in previous games, but was a nonfactor in today’s game.
Brock Hill was again hitting anything thrown his way. He went 3-5 at the plate with two doubles and a towering homerun over the left-center fence. Hill also drove in three runs and scored three runs. Senior Aaron Moody was another key contributor in game two. He went 3-5 at the plate with two runs and one RBI.
The Beavers will be back in action again on Satuday, April 16 in a doubleheader at Robert Morris-Peoria. First pitch of the first game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. for game two.