Southern Illinois News

Baseball wins three of seven on spring trip

The baseball team traveled to the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational for seven games during spring break. The Panthers posted a 3-4 record in the seven games.

Monday, March 13

Vs. Oneonta

The Panthers rolled to a 10-0 seven inning "short-game" win over Oneonta on Monday.

Behind the stellar pitching of Luke Fleener who went six innings, Greenville held the Dragons to two hits.

The Panthers received multi-hit efforts from Drew Frey, George Schneider, Landon Mokris, and Tanner Gerdes as the team collected 12 hits. Schneider led GU with three hits, and Frey, Mokris, and Gerdes all had two.

Schneider crossed the plate with three runs for the Panthers, and Frey scored twice.

Mokris drove in a team high three runs.

Fleener allowed both of Oneonta's hits, walked two, and struck out two. Ian Wilson relieved Fleener with a perfect inning in which he fanned two batters.

Vs. Cornell

After rolling to a 10 run win in game one, the Panthers dropped Monday's second game 8-1 against Cornell.

GU led 1-0 after the first inning, but Cornell added two runs in the second and three in the fourth and sixth innings to take control of the game.

Snyder Pennington managed to lead the Panthers offense with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, and Schneider scored GU's only run.

Braden Maltbie pitched 3.1 innings for the Panthers and allowed five runs on seven hits.

Jaxen Gibson threw two scoreless innings in relief, and Jacob Hammer produced 1.2 innings on the mound without giving up a run.

Andrew Sowerwine and Gerdes also threw a scoreless inning.

Tuesday, March 14

Vs. North Park

In Tuesday's game against North Park, the Panthers jumped ahead 3-0 after three and a half innings before allowing North Park to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth with a three-run inning.

GU regained a one-run advantage in the top of the fifth, but the Vikings matched the Panthers with the tying run in the bottom of the seventh.

The eighth inning saw an explosion of eight combined runs between the two teams. The Panthers went ahead 7-4 with three runs in the eighth, but North Park tallied five runs of their own to go on top 9-7.

The Panthers were unable to score in their plate appearances in the ninth inning.

Mokris was the offensive leader for the Panthers with a 3-for-4 hitting performance and a home run. He scored twice.

Rhett Pennington went 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, and Jacob Sutton was 1-for-2 with two walks and two RBI.

Dylan Boehm pitched four innings for GU and allowed three runs on four hits. Wilson worked two scoreless innings of relief.

Terry Millikan gave up one run in an inning, but the Vikings pushed through against Sowerwine who only recorded one out and gave up five runs on three hits and two walks.

Gerdes closed the eighth inning on the mound with two strikeouts.

Thursday, March 16

Vs. Anderson

The Panthers returned to the diamond on Thursday after an off-day on Wednesday and fell behind 6-0 in the top of the first as they lost 8-1 to Anderson.

Elijah Kjellberg drew the starting assignment on the mound and recorded two outs before being lifted after giving up six runs on one hit and five walks.

Gibson pitched 5.1 innings of relief and permitted two runs on four hits.

Wilson pitched two scoreless innings, and Craig Oertel also hurled a scoreless inning.

Mokris did his part to help the Panther offense with a 3-for-4 game at the plate. Trent Morgenstern also went 2-for-4, and Nathan Eye scored GU's run.

Vs. Wisconsin-Superior

It took Greenville time to jump start their offense in the second game of Thursday's schedule, but the Panthers managed to tie the game 4-4 with four runs in the top of the eighth, went ahead 5-4 in the top of the ninth before Superior tied the game in the bottom of the inning, and won the game with a run in the top of the 11th inning.

Lucas Teel had an effective start for the Panthers on the mound, throwing five innings and only allowing one unearned run on two hits and four walks while fanning three batters.

Hammer pitched 1.1 innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on one hit and two hit batsmen.

Millikan threw two-thirds of an inning without giving up a run.

Gerdes hurled two innings with one run on one hit and one walk and four strikeouts, and Maltbie tossed two scoreless innings with only one hit allowed and four strikeouts.

Mokris went 3-for-4 at the dish with three RBI, and S. Pennington was 3-for-5.

Frey and Schneider posted identical 2-for-5, one run scored performances at the plate, and Zack McClease was 1-for-4 with two runs scored.

Friday, March 17

Vs. Beloit

The Panthers met up with Beloit in a slugfest on Friday and outlasted the Buccaneers in a 15-11 win.

Greenville established an early lead with four runs in the top of the first and two in the top of the second to build a 6-1 lead.

Beloit cut the deficit to 6-4 in the bottom of the third.

Over the last three innings of the game, the teams combined for 16 runs.

The Panthers scored two in the seventh to move ahead 8-4, and the Buccanneers added a run in the bottom of the seventh.

Both teams posted two runs in the eighth inning, and the Panthers scored five in the top of the ninth to take a 15-7 lead before allowing Beloit four runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Frey and S. Pennington were 4-for-5 for GU. Frey scored four runs and added an RBI while Pennington provided two runs scored and three RBI.

R. Pennington was 3-for-5 for the Panthers.

Brexton Beard drove in three runs and Sutton scored three times.

Fleener started on the mound and worked four innings, giving up four runs on eight hits.

Wilson gave up one run in two innings and earned the win.

Millikan pitched a scoreless inning.

Sowerwine allowed two runs in one third of an inning, and Boehm collected the save for Greenville with 1.2 hitless innings. Boehm allowed four runs, one earned, with two walks, two hit batsmen, and two strikeouts.

Saturday, March 18

Vs. Rutgers-Newark

Greenville had a heartbreaking conclusion to their spring trip when Rutgers-Newark stole the final game with six runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 7-6 win.

GU led 2-1 after three innings, 5-1 after six, and 6-1 after eight innings.

Maltbie performed admirably on the mound for the Panthers with 5.1 innings in which he only allowed one unearned run and fanned five batters.

Gibson worked 2.2 scoreless innings.

Hammer started the ninth inning on the mound and could not retire a batter, giving up five runs. Oertel also gave up a run without getting an out, and the game ended on a wild pitch from Gerdes in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded.

Highlights of Greenville's offensive production included two hits and two RBI from Beard and Morgenstern.

Gerdes scored two runs for GU and had a hit and an RBI.

Next up

The Panthers (6-9) will travel to Blackburn for their SLIAC opener on Friday, March 24.

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