Baseball Falls in SLIAC Doubleheader

CARLINVILLE, IL -- The Blackburn College Baseball team hosted Westminster College in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action but were unable to capture victory as they fell 12-7 and 12-9 in the doubleheader. 

Junior Andrew Lozano posted five hits with two doubles and scored two runs. Freshmen Gehrig Loera and Dominic Medrano both added two hits. Loera added two runs while Medrano tallied four runs batted in. Senior Isaac Gleaves belted a home run and also had four RBI's. Senior Jason Hedges also had two runs. Junior C.J. Brunaugh tallied three runs batted in.  

Blackburn took a 3-2 lead after the first inning during the opener. After the Blue Jays scored two runs in the top of the inning, Hedges started the BC inning with a walk then sophomore Brett Lander was hit by a pitch. Lozano followed with a bunt to load the buses with Brunaugh coming to the plate. Brunaugh's batted ball resulted in a Westminster error that allowed Hedges and Lander to score and tie the game. Senior Zach Knox grounded out but the play allowed Lozano to score and give Blackburn the 3-2 lead. 

Hedges scored again in the fifth inning. He singled to start the inning and advanced to third after two outs. Brunaugh followed with a single to the outfield to let Hedges score his second run of the game. However, the run came after a four-run fourth inning from Westminster and Blackburn trailed 6-4. The guests added two runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh. 

In the eighth inning, Gleaves hit his seventh homer of the season that allowed Knoz and Lozano to score as well and made the score 9-7. Unfortunately Westminster responded with three runs of their own in the top of the ninth which went unanswered to give the Blue Jays a 12-7 victory. 

The nightcap saw Blackburn score first when Gleaves singled in the first inning to score Loera. After the Blue Jays tied it in the top of the third, BC answered with sophomore Harley Carney second home run of the season which also scored Loera again to give the Beavers a 3-1 lead after three innings. 

Westminster scored three runs in the top of the fifth to take a lead but the Beavers answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore RJ Arredondo started the inning with a walk then scored on a single from freshman Diego Perez. Knox advanced to third on the play then scored during the next at bat off Medrano contact that resulted in a Blue Jay error. Carney knocked in Perez when his contact resulted in another error. After the inning Blackburn was leading 6-4. The guests responded with four runs in the top of the seventh, while Blackburn added one more run in their seventh when Medrano knocked in Knox with a single. 

The Blue Jays scored two runs in the eighth and ninth innings. In the bottom of the ninth, Medrano hit a two-run home run to score Knox as well, but it was not enough to overcome the late deficit and Westminster took the 12-9 win. 

The Beavers will return to action Tuesday when they visit Webster University.