2024 Baseball Season Features Season of Change

CARLINVILLE, IL - The 2024 Blackburn Baseball season was a year of change for the team as they saw a coaching change for the first time this century with former players Lowell Schwartz and Dalton Fisher taking over in an interim role in January. The team adjusted well as they improved on their home wins and even defeated a regional power for just the second time since the 2009 season.

The Beavers highlighted their season by winning two of their final three games, including a 7-5 victory over regional power Illinois Wesleyan University and a 10-0 shutout over Principia College in the final game of the year. The win over the Titans marked just their second win over IWU since the 2009 season, while their shutout victory on Senior Day was the teams first shutout since 2022. 

Against Principia, Peyton Blackburn threw seven shutout innings while only allowing three hits with eight strikeouts to earn the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week honors. 

Junior Andrew Lozano led the team's offense by batting .308 on the season, posting 41 hits, two triples and two home runs. He also finished with 20 runs and knocked in 16. Sophomore Brett Lander added 33 hits while scoring 16 and had 16 RBI's as well. Senior Zach Knox chipped in with 28 hits and six doubles while scoring 19 runs throughout the season. 

Sophomore Harley Carney finished the year with a team best 21 runs scored. Senior Isaac Gleaves led the way with 24 runs batted in and boasted nine home runs. Despite missing three weeks due to injury, senior Jason Hedges aided the team's effort with 23 hits and 19 runs. 

On the mound, Blackburn threw a team-high 40 strikeouts and had the team's lowest earned run average. Junior Alex Coffman added 27 strikeouts. 

At the end of the year, Hedges was named to the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.

With 26 expected returners, the future looks promising for the young team.