Sangamon Sun

The Illinois College baseball team hosted Cornell College for a double-header on Senior Day, securing a split in the games. The Blueboys won the first game 9-4 but lost the second in 12 innings with a score of 5-7. This result places Illinois College at an overall record of 20-12 and 7-8 in Midwest Conference play.

Before the second game began, eight seniors from the Class of 2024 were honored by the coaching staff. These seniors included Logan Schweigert, Brayden Weaver, Aden Emery, Tory Wickman, AJ Hankins, Dylan Eaton, Ben Jarboe, and student-coach Travis Mullins.

In Game 1, Jack McGuire started for Illinois College and overcame an early deficit to help secure a victory. The team was able to rally from being down four runs with key plays by Jon Tate and Nolan Decker leading to a comeback win. Anthony Buonaura came in as relief and helped close out the game with six strikeouts over 2.2 innings.

Game 2 saw Charlie Lardi starting for Illinois College. Despite taking an early lead through Ryne Mapes' walk followed by Louie Bartletti's near home run hit off the center field wall, Cornell managed to pull ahead later in the game. After tying up again in late innings due to efforts from players like Ryan Huskey and Connor Hennemann, Cornell ultimately took advantage of extra innings to clinch their win.

Illinois College will face Cornell again tomorrow at Joe Brooks Field to conclude their weekend series.