Baseball Battles Lyon

ALTON, IL – Blackburn College Baseball took on Lyon College in a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference three-game series but the Scots proved too much as Blackburn dropped each game.

Freshman Isaiah Mckenzie led the Beavers with two four hits and four runs scored. He belted two home runs and a double and finished with three runs batted in.

Freshman Santos Mercado also added four hits and three rbi's, plus had a home run and scored two runs.

Sophomore Jordan Kelly chipped in with four hits as well while adding two rbi's.

Blackburn scored the first runs of the series and took a 2-0 lead after the first inning during Tuesday's opener. Senior Royce Congi opened it with a double and scored off a ball hit by freshman Carter Hall. Hall would then score on a groundout by junior Dominic Medrano. However, Lyon responded with two runs in the second, eight runs in the third and another in the fourth for an 11-2 lead.

BC inched back in their fourth with Mckenzie's first career home run after junior Luke Ellinger hit a single to reduce the deficit down, 11-4. Lyon added another in the sixth, making it 12-4 before Blackburn responded again in the eighth.

With bases loaded after a single by junior Pedro Medina, a fielder's choice from Ellinger, and a walk by Mckenzie, senior Brett Lander walked in Medina before Congi was hit by a pitch and scored Ellinger. Hall followed with another walk to score Mckenzie and the Beavers narrowed the gap to 12-7. Kelly followed with a single which scored both Congi and Lander and BC was now within 12-9. The Scots added a run in the top of the ninth and Blackburn was unable to answer, falling 13-9 in the opener.

The second game Tuesday saw Lyon jump out to a 6-0 lead after three innings. In the fourth, Hall walked and Kelly was hit by a pitch. Sophomore Andrew Medina followed with a single and scored Hall. Unfortunately, the Scots were able to add eight more runs to win 14-1.

On Wednesday, the team's returned for the final game of the series. Lyon jumped out early with 13 runs after the top of the third inning. Hall singled in the bottom of the third before Congi doubled to move Hall to third. A. Medina then grounded out but scored Hall on the play, and Mercado singled to score Congi allowing the Beavers to narrow it to 13-2.

Blackburn moved closer in the fourth when senior Harley Carney doubled to score Mckenzie who opened the inning with a double himself.

Lyon added a run in the fifth but BC responded with three of their own. A. Medina singled to start the inning and Mercado followed with his second home run of the season. With two outs, Mckenzie knocked his second of the series and made it 14-6. However, Lyon answered with five runs in the sixth and another in the seventh.

In the bottom of the inning, Mercado reached second on a Scot error and used a passed ball to reach third. After freshman Isaiah Peterson-Pruitt walked, the pair moved up a base on a wild pitch, allowing Mercado to score. A Mckenzie single moved Peterson-Pruitt to third and senior Will Mason singled to score Peterson-Pruit. Blackburn was unable to score again and ultimately fell 20-8.

The Beavers will conclude their season this weekend when they host Spalding University Friday and Saturday in another SLIAC three-game series.