JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - The Loras College Duhawks baseball team got its 2024 season underway at the Illinois College Invitational with a 2-1 weekend. The Duhawks (2-1 overall) picked up a 12-3 win over Blackburn College on Friday before falling to Illinois College 8-5 on Saturday morning. Loras wrapped up its weekend with a 9-8 win over Calvin University.
Loras 12, Blackburn 4
The Duhawks started their season off with a bang by getting the bats going early and often against the Beavers. Loras scored twice in the first inning, first when
Nick DiBenedetto flew out to center field, far enough out to score
Max McCallum and advance
Trevor Segraves to third and again when Segraves crossed home after
Cody Sunny reached on a fielder's choice.
The Purple and Gold struck again off an
Alex Sandoval RBI double in the second before Blackburn was able to respond with a run of their own at the bottom of the frame to make it 3-1. The Duhawks went on to string together seven-straight runs over the next three innings before the Beavers got back on the scoreboard with three runs in the seventh inning. Loras put finishing touches on the season-opener with back-to-back home runs by DiBenedetto and Sunny to win it, 12-4.
DiBenedetto went 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBIs. Sunny and designated hitter
Justin Gutierrez matched by going 3-for-5 at bat, with Sunny leading the team in RBIs with four.
TJ Boyd picked up the win, striking out eight and allowing only one run in six innings of action.
Illinois College 8, Loras 5
Saturday morning's tilt with Illinois College saw the Duhawks jump out to an early 4-0 lead through the first three innings before the Blueboys (3-0) would go on to score eight-straight runs. Loras added its final run of the game in the seventh inning but was unable to generate anything else the rest of the way.
Segraves led the team at the plate by going 2-for-5 with an RBI. Five other Duhawks recorded a hit, while McCallum scored two runs to lead the team.
Dylan Ackermann pitched 3.1 innings and struck out three of the nine batters he faced.
Loras 9, Calvin 8
The final game of Saturday proved to be a good one, as the Purple and Gold fought back from a 6-4 deficit to win 9-8 over Calvin University. After the Knights (0-3) struck first at the top of the first, but Loras'
Daniel Rogers hit a solo shot to right field to knot things up at the turn of the inning.
Calvin responded with a sac fly at the top of the second before McCallum homered to right, scoring
JD Mettham and Aiden Herrick to take a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the frame.
Calvin would go on to score the ensuing four runs to go up 6-4, but RBIs by Rogers and DiBenedetto tied things back up at the bottom of the fifth.
The Knights scored one at the top of the seventh before Loras would regain the lead at the back end of the inning off a double by Sunny, scoring Segraves and Rogers. The Knights knotted things up once again at the top of the ninth before
Jack Carney walked things off by grounding out into a fielder's choice, paving the way for Seagraves to score.
The Duhawks will hit the road again on Friday for a three-game series against Greenville University. The two teams will play a game on Friday, March 1 at 2 p.m. before competing in doubleheader action on Saturday.
