Sangamon Sun

The Illinois College baseball team began its Midwest Conference season with a strong performance, achieving a sweep against Monmouth at Joe Brooks Field on Saturday. The Blueboys secured a 10-1 victory in the first game and followed it up with a 10-0 win in the second game, which lasted seven innings.

Following these wins, Illinois College's record stands at 11-6 overall and 2-0 in conference play. Meanwhile, Monmouth's record is now 4-11 overall and 4-2 in conference play.

In the first game, after an initial tie at one run each, Illinois College took control in the fourth inning with two runs and maintained their lead. They added four more runs in the sixth inning and three additional runs in the eighth inning. Nolan Decker was instrumental for Illinois College, going 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs. Adam Passmore contributed three hits and scored three times, while Sean Raffa also added three hits to the team's efforts.

Jack McGuire pitched the first six innings for Illinois College, allowing one run on six hits and striking out seven batters to earn the win. Andrew Wieneke finished off the last three innings, recording six strikeouts.

In the second game, Charlie Lardi was pivotal for Illinois College as he delivered 12 strikeouts—just one short of setting a school record—while allowing only three hits over seven innings. Tyler Barker led Illinois College's offense by hitting two home runs and collecting five RBIs as part of their total of 16 hits.

Illinois College expanded their lead significantly later in the game. After securing a 1-0 advantage in the second inning, they scored five runs in the fifth inning and added another three runs in the sixth before concluding with one final run in the seventh inning. Besides Barker's contribution, Decker had another strong showing with three hits while Passmore, Jon Tate, Logan Fleener, and Logan Schweigert each added two hits.

Next up for Illinois College is a non-conference doubleheader against Millikin on Monday starting at 3:00 p.m.