The Colonels baseball team stormed back to overtake the Illinois-Chicago Flames 6-5 on Tuesday evening at Didier Field.
Despite a lack of hitting early on and a rough night on the mound for junior Mike Prejean, the Colonels were still able to pull out a close one.
The Colonels (15-10) were tied at one with Illinois-Chicago in the first inning, but struggled a bit after that.
“We made some mistakes early on in the game that perhaps us in a hole, but we stayed the course and played through it. Bryan James really did a good job for us. Not only making the winning hit, but also coming through with a great catch in the top of the ninth. He is a guy that we like to see with the bat in those types of situations. We did give them some runs because of some sloppy play, but we knew that once we straightened out some things and concentrated more, we could pull it out,” B.D. Parker, Colonels head coach, said.
Illinois-Chicago first scored when senior outfielder Chuck Peters grounded out, but brought in junior infielder Jordan DeVoir. The Flames then began to pad their lead in the top of the third when Peters blasted a triple and brought in two runs to make it 3-1.
The Flames added a run when freshmen catcher J.P. Morgan hit an RBI single.
They would score their final run in the top of the sixth.
Prejean started the game for the Colonels and pitched four and a half innings. He gave up five hits, four runs, two walks and struck out five.
Senior Casey Duhe relieved him in the top of the fifth. He gave up two hits,one run, one walk and struck out six in getting the save.
” Mike had a pretty tough night out there. He did not seem to play with much command on the mound. He hit five batters and walked two. Mike is a tough player and he will bounce back. It was hard to get some good tempo going because we struggled defensively. We just had to play through all those things and make it happen,” Parker said. ” I was very proud of the way that Casey stepped in pitched well. He just decided that he was going come in with some intensity and make some things happen.”
Senior shortstop Chuck Hickman began the game with a leadoff double. He scored on a groundout by junior outfielder Tony Ruiz.
The Colonels struggled for the next three innings until they cut the four run deficit to three in the bottom of the sixth. Ruiz came through with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly by senior outfielder Brad Dantonio.
Ruiz then took advantage of a wild pitch by freshmen Ryan Martin to make 5-2.
The Colonels began to get defensive in the top of the seventh when Duhe struck out three of four batters.
The Colonels bats really began to roll when they wheeled off three runs on two outs. Senior outfielder Clint Joffrion began the rally with a single. Freshmen infielder Jeremy Helton and Hickman then followed with singles.
Ruiz came through with an RBI scoring two, and a wild throw enabled them to tie the game.
The Flames went three up and three down in the top of the ninth.
That would set the stage for an exciting finish for the Colonels.
Hickman struck out, while Ruiz got on with a single and later advanced to second with a stolen base. Dantonio got on first with a walk. Senior outfielder Bryan James would seal the deal for the Colonels when he blasted an RBI into left field for the winning run.
“We are confident in close game situations because we have won quite a few.” It is just a matter of maintaining our poise,” Parker said.
The Colonels finished with six runs on 11 hits and had three errors, while the Flames came away with five runs on seven hits. They had only one error.