Baseball Honors Nine Seniors on Senior Day

ALTON, IL -- Blackburn College Baseball celebrated nine seniors during a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader with Greenville College. Facing rainy conditions at Lloyd Hopkins Field, the home of the Alton River Dragons, the Beavers ended up falling to the SLIAC tournament qualifying Panthers, falling 13-2 and 21-8. 

Between the two games, seniors RJ Arredondo, Ian Sullivan, Frankie Ruiz, Alex Coffman, Andrew Lozano, Peyton Blackburn, C.J. Brunaugh, Blake Barley, and Mason Wyant were honored for all their contributions to the baseball program during their careers. 

Arredondo led the team's offense with a total of four hits, two doubles, a home run, and four runs batted in with two runs scored.  Juniors Harley Carney and Royce Congi also had multiple hits. 

Seven pitchers saw action over the two games and combined to allow just 10 earned runs. 

In the opener, BC took advantage of Greenville mistakes to score two runs in the third inning. Sophomore Diego Perez walked and Sullivan was hit by a pitch. A passed ball allowed both to advance a base, then another passed ball on walk to Carney allowed Perez to score. Lozano followed with a fielders choice which scored Sullivan. However, Greenville used timely offense to win the game. 

During the nightcap, Greenville scored early and held a 5-0 lead entering the bottom of the second inning. After Arredondo and sophomore Omar Claudio singled, and freshman Pedro Medina walked to load the bases, Carney singled to score Arredondo putting BC on the board. 

The Panthers responded with two runs in the third but the Beavers answered. Congi opened the Blackburn third with a double and Brunaugh walked before Arredondo doubled to score Congi. After a ground out, Brunaugh scored on a ball hit by Ruiz to give BC two runs in the inning. 

The fifth inning featured Arredondo hitting his fourth homer of the season, sixth of his career. 

In the sixth inning, Medina walked, and Carney reached on a fielder's choice to open the inning. During the next at bat, Medina scored off a wild pitch and Carney moved up to second base. After Lozano walked, Congi came out with a single which scored Carney. Brunaugh was up next and walked, and junior Brett Lander pinch ran for Brunaugh. Next up was Arredondo who hit a double which scored both Lander and Congi giving the Beavers four runs in the inning. 

Unfortunately, the team was unable to overcome struggles in the field as they fell 21-8 in game two. 

With the conclusion of the doubleheader, the baseball season comes to a close. The 2025 team improved on their wins, batting average, slugging percentage and on base percentage. They also scored more runs, had more hits, doubles, and triples while from the mound they threw more strikeouts and had lower ERA as well.