The Beavers are more than halfway finished with their 2016 campaign. Now three series deep into their conference schedule, the pressure with each matchup rises. On Saturday they wrapped up the series against Principia College with a double header at Blackburn. Still trying to move on from a tough loss on the road at Prin where the Beavers surrendered a 10-7 lead in the final two innings of play, Blackburn was still in position to take the series.
The Beavers gave up a run in the second, but retook the lead after Shane Lewis hit a sac fly to score Brock Hill, followed by an RBI single from Aaron Moody. But Principia immediately retaliated with a five-run offensive explosion in the bottom of the third inning to take a 6-2 lead.
Yet for the second game in a row, the Beavers would chip away at the early deficit. The action picked up again in the top of the fifth when the first two Beavers reached on errors, followed by catcher’s interference to load the bases. Two batters later, Joey Szerletich smashed a double in the right center gap to clear the bases to bring the score to 6-5.
Principia tallied another run in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 7-5 ballgame.
But in the top of the sixth, the Beavers bounced back again. After Brandon Smith lead the inning off with a double, Principia booted the ball again to put two runners in scoring position. A passed ball, and an RBI single from Tyler Durand, and the Beavers tied the ball game at seven.
Then in the top of the seventh, Walter Jarvis came off the bench to pinch hit. The sophomore blasted a fastball over the left field fence for a two-run go-ahead homer to put the Beavers up 9-7.
Unfortunately for the second game in a row, the Beavers failed to hold on to a late-game lead, surrendering three runs to Principia to drop the first game 10-9.
Leading at the plate for Blackburn was Tyler Durand and Joey Szerletich who each went 2-4 with two RBIs.
Game Two
In the second game, Principia struck first again with a solo shot in the top of the first. But Blackburn answered back with a solo shot of their own from Brock Hill. Prin tallied another run in the top of the third, but Blackburn would soon retaliate.
The Beavers came alive in the bottom of the third with an offensive onslaught to the tune of seven runs. Adding to the fray was freshman Brady Wilkinson who launched a shot over the left field wall for his first collegiate home run.
Cruising with a six run lead up 8-2, the Beavers leaned on senior lefty Jarrett “Bird” Luckett on the mound. Bird delivered a stellar performance on the mound for Blackburn only surrendering two more runs in a complete game ten strikeout performance. Bird even delivered in the batter’s box with his first base hit since the Bush Administration.
The Beavers scored two more runs in the game powered by another RBI single from Aaron Moody plus a sac fly from Tyler Durand. Running away with the game 10-4, Blackburn was able to salvage the final game of the series.
Leading hitters for the Beavers were Shane Lewis who was 3-4 and Matt Mokriakow who went 3-5. Brock Hill and Tyler Durand each went 2-4.
With a conference record of 4-5, Blackburn only has one fewer loss compared to division leader Spalding (8-4). Next piece of action will be on Tuesday when the Beavers rematch against Lincoln Christian, followed by a conference double header against Eureka on Wednesday.