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Waterman pitching against BenU
Audrey Peterson
16
Winner Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 14-18
14
Illinois Col. ILLINOIS 20-14
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES
14-18
16
Final
14
Illinois Col. ILLINOIS
20-14
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 0 0 0 0 3 11 0 2 0 16 11 1
Illinois Col. ILLINOIS 0 8 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 14 16 1

W: Waterman, Nathan (1-0) L: Cameron Sievers (0-1) S: Elliott, Brayden (5)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Comes From Behind To Best Blueboys

Titans notch seventh comeback win of the year

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - An 11-run sixth inning overcame a five run deficit, as the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team held off Illinois College, 16-14, at Joe Brooks Field Wednesday, April 22. The Green and White starts an important week 2-0 and moves its record to 14-18. IC drops to 20-14 and snaps its six-game win streak.

The high octane IWU offense stayed quiet until the fifth inning racking up 11 hits in the game. The lineup took advantage of 18 free passes, 10 walks and eight hit by pitches. Junior John Philip Ferraro (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) secured a three-hit day with a trio of runs batted in. Sophomores Matt Hudik (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) and AJ Weller (Geneseo, Ill.-Geneseo) along with senior Jack Flagg (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) recorded two-hit days. Flagg led the pack with four RBI's, while Weller supported three and Hudik two.

A bullpen game for the Green and White started with Flagg and worked through five others. Flagg went the first two innings and let up the bulk of the Blueboys' runs. Sophomore Luc Lawler (Naperville, Ill.-Benet Academy) put the IC bats at bay with four strikeouts and two hits over two innings. Next up was senior Nathan Waterman (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove South), who earned the win, went an inning and two-thirds, allowing four runs on three hits, and fanned two. Freshman Myles Hammond (Lakewood, Ill.-Shelbyville), senior Marshall Ingold (Rochester, Ill.-Rochester), junior Nolan Turner (Morton, Ill.-Morton), and freshman Brayden Elliott (Gibson City, Ill.-Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) combined to finish off the final three plus innings. The group strung together a scoreless final two innings to finish the win.

IC opened the second inning with back-to-back home runs and a single kept the line moving. A fly out made it one out, but a hit by pitch, and a single into right moved the needle to 3-0. Flagg struck out the next batter, but another hit to right field made way for IC's third and fourth home runs of the day to make it 8-0 after one inning.

The Titan offense was shut out through four frames, but the bats unleashed from the fifth on. Senior Tommy Willard (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove South) worked a full count walk to turn the lineup over to Hudik who hustled out an infield single. Flagg singled in Willard to make it a six-run game and Ferraro reached with another infield knock. A wild pitch brought in the third Titan run of the game, but the Blueboys escaped the jam on an inning-ending double play with the bases juiced.

With work still to do, senior Gage Wolfe (Bloomington, Ill.-Bloomington) and Willard reached to start the sixth, but a quick flyout put an out on the board. Weller skied a ball into center, which was botched by the outfielder, setting up bases loaded for Flagg. The righty was drilled in the back of the head to board first and pull IWU within four. At the plate with RBI's to be had, Ferraro did just that, with a single into right to score two. Junior Jack Novak (Mokena, Ill.-Lincoln-Way Central) smoked a sacrifice fly to left to make it 8-7 and junior Eli Keiser (Normal, Ill.-University High) boarded on a free pass.  Freshman Anthony Batshon (Homer Glen, Ill.-Lockport Township) made the comeback come to fruition as he laced a single into center to tie the game. The wild IC pitching staff hit Wolfe and Willard to make it nine unanswered from the Green and White. Hudik kept the line moving with a single into center to bring home the sixth and seventh runs of the inning, before Weller grew the lead with a big blast to center, making it 14-8.

The drama kept building in the bottom of the sixth, as IC drilled a homerun into left and used a walk to hit a two-run shot to cut into the visitor's lead, 14-11. A walk and a single set up a runner in scoring position with two outs, and came around to score on a base hit to left. Illinois Wesleyan limited the damage, but could not add on in the top of the half. The seventh started with two straight outs, but trouble ensued with a double and an error in leftfield bringing home a run. The second double of the inning tied the marathon at 14. 

In the top of the eighth, Willard was plunked with another pitch to board first and advanced to second on a Hudik sacrifice bunt. With two outs in the inning, Flagg ripped a double into left-center for the third lead change of the game. Ferraro traded places with Flagg on a run-scoring double to grab a two-run cushion, 16-14.

After Ingold and Turner combined to keep the Blueboys scoreless in the bottom of the eighth, Elliott preserved the win in the ninth. The rookie righty stranded two runners on base as he struck out the side for his fifth save, moving into fifth all-time in saves in a season.

 
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