Blackburn Senior Catcher Ryan Steen hit a grandslam, a three-run double and a solo homerun to give the Blackburn College Baseball Team a 13-6 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Iowa Wesleyan on Wednesday afternoon in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. The Beavers dropped the opener 5-3. In game two, Christian Padilla scored the first run after an error to stake the Beavers to an early 1-0 lead. After the Tigers tied the score after two innings, Blackburn took early control with a five-run third inning. Steen's grandslam was the big hit in the inning. Steen hit a three-run double in the fourth to stake the Beavers to a 9-1 lead. On a day with the wind howling out to left field, the Tigers hit a pair of homeruns to climb back into the contest at 10-4 after five innings. Steen homered again in the sixth and Trevor Platt had his second RBI single to give Blackburn a 12-4 lead. Padilla added an RBI single in the 8th for Blackburn. Starter Sammy Gordon gave the Beavers seven solid innings on 100 pitches to pick up his third win of the year. Reliever Kyler Sherrill pitched a scoreless 8th, the beneficiary of a great running catch by Steven Diaz with the bases loaded and two outs. Dalton Fisher pitched a perfect 9th with two strikeouts.
In game one, Bubby Stepp was the hard luck loser as the Blackburn defense struggled to make plays behind him. Mitchell Binder was three for three, with his first career homerun and Austin Presley added a two-run homerun, also the first of his career.
The game two victory snapped a nine-game losing streak for Blackburn and provides some momentum going into a conference doubleheader at home against Fontbonne University on Saturday afternoon.