Beavers Shut Out Principia to Celebrate Senior Day

CARLINVILLE, IL -- Blackburn College Baseball celebrated their three seniors between the two games before the Beavers shutout Principia College 10-0 in eight innings during the nightcap of a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader. Principia took the first game 15-10. The 10-0 win marks the first shutout for Blackburn since a 13-0 win over Lincoln Christian College in 2022. 

Between the two games Isaac Gleaves, Jason Hedges and Zach Knox were honored for the contributions to the baseball program during their years at Blackburn. 

Gleaves, Knox, junior Andrew Lozano and sophomore Joshua Moreno finished the day with four hits. Knox and Lozano also scored four runs each. Sophomore Brett Lander tallied three hits with three runs scored while Gleaves also led the team with five runs batted in. Hedges posted three hits and three RBI's and joined Gleaves and Lozano by scoring two runs as well. 

Junior Peyton Blackburn threw seven shutout innings and allowed just three hits while striking out eight during game two. 

The second inning of nightcap saw Gleaves get on with a walk before Moreno singled which advanced Gleaves to third. During the next at bat a passed ball let Gleaves get the Beavers on the board and moved Moreno to third. Moreno then scored on a error by the pitcher to put BC ahead 2-0. 

Hedges opened the third inning with his first home run of the season and second of his career to make it 3-0. In the fifth BC added three more. Lander doubled to get on and Lozano was hit by a pitch to put two on. Knox followed and got to first due to an error which put him on second and scored both Lander and Lozano. Gleaves then singled to score Knox which put the Beavers ahead 6-0. 

With two outs in the sixth, Lander hit a double and scored Lander who reached on an error. Perez came up next and singled to put Lander across for the 8-0 lead. 

Gleaves added two more runs in the eighth with a single to score Knox and Lozano and put Blackburn ahead 10-0 to get the eight inning victory. 

Principia opened the day by scoring seven runs in the first inning of the opener for an early lead and added two more in the second. Blackburn got on the board in their second inning with a single from freshman Dominic Medrano to score Knox. They added two more in the third when freshman Diego Perez singled which allowed Hedges to score before Lozano scored on a wild pitch. 

Blackburn closed the gap more in the fourth with a two-run home run from sophomore Harley Carney, freshman Gehrig Loera scored on the play. However, Principia responded with three runs in the fifth and held a 12-5 lead into the sixth inning. 

Loera scored in the sixth inning from a sacrifice fly by Hedges. After a Panther run in the seventh, Gleaves doubled to score Knox and then scored of another sacrifice fly, this time by Loera. 

In the eighth inning, Principia scored two more runs and took a 15-8 lead heading into the ninth inning. Lander hit his first career triple to score Medrano who got on after getting hit by a pitch. Hedges followed with a single to score Lander but it would not be enough as BC fell 15-10. 

The doubleheader split concludes the 2024 season for the baseball team.