AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- The Illinois Wesleyan baseball team, ranked No. 26 in the American Baseball Coaches Association Top 30 poll, lost by a 9-7 score to Endicott College, who is receiving votes in the D3baseball Top 25 poll, in Auburndale, Fla., on Thursday, March 16.
The Titans fell to 6-3 on the season while the Gulls picked up their fourth win to improve to 4-1.
IWU got on the board early with a solo home run in the top of the first off the bat of freshman centerfielder
Nick Figus, his second of the season. The Titans extended their lead to 2-0 in the third inning following an RBI double down the right field line from senior shortstop
Jarrod Juskiewicz.
Endicott scored the next four runs to take a 4-2 lead over the Titans heading into the sixth inning. Sophomore leftfielder
John Bosco ended the drought in the sixth with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to score freshman
Garrett Shea.
Shea's two-RBI double down the left field line got things going for the Titans in the seventh. His double advanced senior
Pat Mollo to third base and gave the Titans a chance to take the lead with the game tied at five. Junior
Jake Stewart followed up Shea's double with a two-RBI triple to center field to give IWU a 7-5 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Unfortunately for the Titans, the Gulls scored four unanswered runs on four base hits to take a 9-7 lead heading into the ninth inning.
Endicott got 14 hits in the game and left just four runners on base throughout the contest. On the side of Illinois Wesleyan, the Titans recorded 10 hits and left 10 men on base. IWU has recorded double-digit hits in each of their nine games this season.
Senior
Jonathan Vlk started the game for IWU and went 5 1/3 innings for the Titans allowing five earned runs. Freshman
Nick Sanders was tagged with his first career loss after tossing 1 1/3 innings of relief.
What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan is back in action at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Friday, March 17, with a game against Babson College at 4 p.m. ET from Lake Myrtles Park. The Beavers are back in action following a week long lay-off and hold an overall record of 2-2 this season with wins over Trinity (Tex.) and Mass. Maritime.