The USI Baseball team hosted the Bellarmine University Knights, Wednesday at the USI Baseball Field.
The Eagles entered the game with a record of 18-22, while the Knights sat at 10-30. However, the Knights were not a team to be beaten with ease in this game.
The top of the first inning was a bit of a rough start, as USI’s starting pitcher, Colin Wolfe, gave up hits on two of the first three batters, which saw a run score after a throwing error. Following a line out to the third baseman, Parker Martin, sophomore infielder, the fifth batter hit a sacrifice fly to CF, bringing in another run. Luckily for USI, they were able to limit the Knights’ scoring run to just two runs in the first.
USI was able to respond to get on the board in the bottom of the second inning. The lead-off batter, Patrick McLellan, junior outfielder, who was playing at first base in this matchup, was hit by a pitch. Two batters later, designated hitter Cameron Boyd, sophomore outfielder, hit an absolute moonshot to left field, tying the game up.
Fast-forwarding to the fourth inning, USI made a pitching change, bringing in Mason Bell, junior pitcher. The starter, Wolfe, had a fine performance aside from the first inning. He only gave up one hit, but walked three batters.
The reliever, Bell, got two of the first three batters to fly out. However, he gave up two walks and a double, which saw two runs scored, giving Bellarmine a two-run lead once again. Ultimately, he was able to limit the damage to two runs to end the inning.
In the fifth inning, USI made another pitching change, bringing in Camden Dimidjian, graduate pitcher, to see out the inning. He had a flawless inning, getting the first two batters out while keeping the ball in the infield. He struck out the final batter to end the inning.
The bottom half of the fifth inning started with two of the first three batters flying out. However, Cole Kitchens, junior infielder and Charlie Marisca, junior catcher, both hit singles into the outfield. Next up to the plate stood Boyd, who hit a home run earlier in the second inning. Boyd would not allow this opportunity to escape as he hit another bomb into left-field, taking the lead by a score of 5-4.
USI held the lead until the top of the seventh inning. Following a pitching change, which saw Brady Watts, sophomore, take the mound. He gave up two hits and a walk, which allowed the Knights to tie the game up at five. The next batter reached on a fielding error, which gave the Knights the lead of 6-5. However, USI Baseball Head Coach Chris Ramirez opted to stay with his guy.
Credit to Watts, he kept his composure and struck out three straight batters, a solid result, considering that the bases were loaded for much of the inning.
Taking it to the bottom of the seventh, USI got to work. Kitchens, the leadoff hitter, singled up the middle and then advanced to second base following a balk. McLellan and Marisca both grounded out, allowing Kitchens to advance to home plate, tying the game.
The eighth inning was a bit of a shaky inning. Three different pitchers were brought in for USI. The Knights were able to score three runs in the inning on two hits and two wild pitches. It was a desolate scene for the Eagles and the energy in the crowd reflected that.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Eagles were able to get multiple runners into scoring position with only one out in the inning, but Khi Holiday, senior outfielder, struck out in a crucial spot and the next batter, Kitchens, hit the ball into left but the fielder was able to catch it for the third out.
USI once again made a pitching change, bringing in Hiroyuki Yamada, senior pitcher, to see out the ninth inning, to keep the Knights from extending the lead. Yamada walked the first batter, but struck out the next one. With one out in the inning, the third batter grounded out to Yamada, who fielded the ball and threw to second base for the second out. Yamada was able to get the final batter out in the inning via a fly out to right field, a solid performance.
We then stood at the bottom of the ninth inning, the last chance for the Eagles. Many teams in this situation would look nervous and shrink in times like this, but the Eagles aren’t many teams. The first three batters, McLellan, Marisca and Boyd all hit singles, loading the bases. Up to the plate came Hunter Miller, junior outfielder. Miller fought hard at the plate, drawing a six-pitch walk to score a run.
For the next batter, the Eagles called in a pinch hitter, Kannon Coakley, junior outfielder. Coakley hit a tough ground ball to the shortstop, who threw Coakley out at first. B.J. Banyon, who was brought in as a pinch runner for Charlie Marisca, scored, which cut the lead to one.
Coach Ramirez once again brought in a pinch hitter, this time, Micajah Wall, junior catcher. Wall hit a long fly ball to right field, which allowed Boyd enough time to score, tying the game at nine.
With two outs and a chance to win the game, Khi Holiday stepped up to bat. Holiday had struck out in his last attempt at the plate in the bottom of the eighth. He looked for a chance for redemption. Redemption, he found as he hit a single up the middle, scoring Hunter Miller to walk off the game.
USI- 10 Bellarmine- 9
Takeaways:
This was one of the greatest sporting events that I’ve witnessed since covering USI athletics, and that is not a hyperbole.
If you wrote a movie about this game and took it to Warner Bros Studios, they would’ve thrown you out the window like Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop (One of my older readers just spit out their coffee with that reference).
All movie references aside, the Eagles showed some true heart in this game. Things looked quite grim during the ninth inning, but they kept fighting. That’s a true mark of a good team, finding ways to win games when all the cards aren’t falling your way.
For USI, the pitching performances were kinda hit or miss. Yamada and Dimidjian were standouts, but Yamada collected the win, his first of the season. USI used 10 pitchers, so perhaps in the next game, they might try to get more out of the starter, but they got the job done in this one.
Cameron Boyd had an iconic performance, going 4/5 in the game, with two home runs and five runs batted in. The team as a whole was hitting well, as all of the starters got at least one hit, and the team had 16 for the game.
The Eagles look to continue their scoring run against Eastern Illinois University this weekend.