Sangamon Sun

The Illinois College baseball team ended their participation in the 2024 Russ Matt Central Florida Invitational with a decisive victory over North Central University of Minnesota, winning 8-0 on Friday night. Throughout their week in Florida, the Blueboys achieved a record of 4-2, bringing their overall season record to 8-2.

In this final game in Florida, Jack McGuire started as pitcher for the Blueboys. After allowing a lead-off walk, McGuire managed to leave that runner stranded on third base by striking out Julian Encinas to conclude the inning. In the bottom half of the inning, Ryne Mapes and Adam Passmore reached base through consecutive walks and advanced on a wild pitch. Louie Bartletti then brought Mapes home with a sacrifice fly, giving Illinois College an early lead.

McGuire continued strong into the second inning with just 14 pitches thrown. The Blueboys extended their lead significantly with a five-run inning initiated by an error from Jordan Trevino at third base that allowed Jon Tate to reach base. With two outs and runners in scoring positions, Mapes hit a double that scored Tate and Schweigert. Passmore followed with an RBI single, bringing Mapes home for another run. Bartletti contributed further with a double that scored Passmore, and Nolan Decker capped off the inning with an RBI single scoring Bartletti.

McGuire maintained his form on the mound across three more innings without conceding any runs while achieving eight strikeouts in total. In the fifth inning's bottom half, Decker singled and eventually scored alongside Ryan Huskey after Huskey's line drive eluded NCU's Caleb Alfaro.

Illinois College used four relief pitchers—Dylan Eaton, Chris Campau, Jake Holder, and Tory Wickman—in the game's latter stages; all managed to keep North Central scoreless. Holder struck out three batters in his appearance during the eighth inning.

For Illinois College offensively, Decker and Schweigert each had two hits while Mapes, Bartletti, and Huskey led in RBIs with two apiece. The Blueboys will next play Westminster College (MO) at Joe Brooks Field on Wednesday, March 13th for a double-header starting at noon.