Written and Media by Caleb Miles.
The Panthers continued their win streak this week as they finished their series on the road with Principia and MacMurray. Games two and three of the Principia series were played at Principia on Monday, April 24. Game three of the MacMurray series was played on the road at MacMurray on Wednesday, April 26. The Panthers carried a lot of momentum into these games, winning the last week’s matchups against the two teams.
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Game one against Principia featured the Greenville ace Jonah Moore against Hunter Mehring of Principia. Jesse Getz led off the game with a single then was bunted over by Adam Lamb. After Getz stole third he was hit in by Mike Hardin, who earned a RBI single, making the score 1-0. Principia answered back with a RBI double to tie the game up. Both teams went quietly in the second and then Greenville tacked on three more on three hits to make it a 4-1 game. The Panthers added three in the fourth and four in the fifth to make it 11-1. Principia answered with a little offense of their own in the fifth to make it an 11-5 game.
Getz hit a three-run bomb the sixth, which would be the last of the scoring for the game for both teams, giving Greenville the 14-5 win. Greenville scored fourteen runs on thirteen hits with RBIs coming from Getz (4), Travis Ralls (3), Hardin, Klaiton Wolff (4), and Shane Olmsted (2). Moore threw a solid game and was backed by excellent defense, earning his seventh win of the season. Freshman Austin Rexroad threw the final two innings of the game and shut them out, striking out four and only allowing one hit.
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Phil Reedy threw the second game of the doubleheader for the Panthers against Sawyer Grow. Principia found some momentum from their senior day festivities and came out of the gates with hot bats in game two. They scored a run each of the first three innings, totaling six. Greenville finally answered with the bats in the top of the fourth with a three-run bomb by Austin Marsh and a two-RBI shot by Getz giving him two home runs that day. Greenville would score six runs on three hits in the fourth inning. Principia responded in the next few innings by scoring three times, bringing the score to 9-6.
In the top of the eighth Marsh found the sweet spot again, launching his second three-RBI bomb of the game followed by a RBI double by Getz. The Panthers would go on to have a seven-run inning, making the score 13-9. Logan Murphy came in to relieve Reedy and earned the win after the offense came alive and the game was closed down by Wolff. Strong freshman pitching performances by Rexroad, Murphy, and Wolff helped the Panthers sweep the doubleheader and push the win streak to nine games.
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After a day off, the Panthers traveled to Jacksonville, Ill., to take on MacMurray in the final game of their three-game series. Marsh took the mound for the Panthers against Luke Jarvis. Greenville jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, but MacMurray scored twice in the bottom half to tie it up. The Panthers weren’t pleased with a tie game and put up four runs in the second to jump out to a 6-2 lead. MacMurray answered with one run in each of the next three innings to make it a one-run game at 6-5.
A long fifth inning got started with back-to-back walks issued by the MacMurray pitcher followed by a passed ball to put runners on second and third. Danny Strohm and Getz both acquired RBI singles followed by a three-run shot by Ralls. Panthers scored six runs to jump out to a 12-5 lead and eventually added two more to make the final score 14-5. The Panthers ended the week by extending their win streak to ten games and winning fourteen out of their last fifteen.
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Greenville hopes to carry this momentum and keep the streak alive Monday as they take on Iowa Wesleyan University in a SLIAC doubleheader. After that, they have the rest of the week to prep for rival Spalding University, which comes to town for a three-game series starting Friday, with senior day being held on Saturday. The Panthers have clinched a spot in the postseason and are looking to stay hot and finish the season strong. Keep up with the games on Twitter and check out the website for updates and stats.
