Sangamon Sun

The Illinois College baseball team secured a dramatic victory against Beloit College in their Midwest Conference series at Joe Brooks Field, Jacksonville. The Blueboys overcame a six-run deficit in the ninth inning to win 9-8 in extra innings.

The game saw Adam Passmore's decisive line drive lead to a walk-off win when Jonathan Odom scored after an error by Beloit's right fielder. This victory allowed Illinois College to clinch the series 2-1 and improve their conference record to 4-8.

Branson Shaw started on the mound for Illinois College, recording a scoreless first inning. His counterpart, Kaiya Nishino of Beloit, also kept the Blueboys scoreless initially. The game remained tight until Brett Kiger's two-run homer gave Beloit a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning.

Illinois College responded in the fifth inning with Ryne Mapes and Passmore hitting consecutive singles. Louie Bartletti then hit a pop-up that scored Mapes due to wind interference, narrowing the gap to 1-2.

Beloit extended their lead with three more runs in the sixth inning through home runs by Kiger and Miles Souza. Jake Holder and Charlie Lardi were called from the bullpen, with Lardi executing a crucial double play to halt further scoring threats.

A wild pitch allowed Beloit another run in the seventh, but Hennemann's RBI single reduced Illinois College's deficit to 2-6 in the eighth. However, Beloit added two more runs in the ninth, making it 2-8.

In an intense bottom of the ninth, Logan Schweigert reached base on an error followed by Brayden Weaver's double. Ryan Huskey walked to load bases for Mapes who drew another walk scoring Schweigert. Passmore's fielder's choice and Bartletti’s RBI double continued closing the gap.

Nolan Decker’s sacrifice fly and Hennemann’s RBI double brought Illinois College within one run before Brandon Smith tied it up after capitalizing on an errant throw by Matt O'Leary.

Anthony Buonaura pitched for Illinois College during extra innings, preventing any Beloit scores despite runners on second and third with no outs. He recorded two groundouts and a strikeout securing his team’s victory.

Passmore and Hennemann each contributed significantly with two RBIs while Shaw struck out five over five innings. Lardi pitched 2.2 innings also striking out five while Buonaura earned credit for closing out this tense match-up successfully.

Illinois College will face Knox College next in Galesburg on April 16 for a conference double-header starting at 1:00 PM.