Bloomington, IL – A three-run eighth inning put the Prairie Fire ahead to stay in a 7-3 win against Illinois Wesleyan University on Tuesday.
Knox (10-5) has now won three straight and seven of its last eight games while snapping a 10-game winning streak by the Titans. This marks the second time the Prairie Fire have ended a long string of victories by an opposing team. Knox beat Otterbein University, who had won 12 in a row, 8-7 on March 19 in Fort Myers, Florida.
The Prairie Fire broke a 3-3 tie when senior Matt Lee (Fullerton, CA, Servite) had a pinch hit single for an RBI in the top of the eighth inning. Junior Paul Mills (Moline, IL, Moline) gave Knox a 5-3 lead when he drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Lee scored on an error after a single by senior Michael Schroeder (Glenview, IL, Glenbrook South) to extend the advantage to 6-3.
Junior Jackson White (Grayslake, IL, Grayslake Central) scored on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth to account for the final Prairie Fire run of the game.
Knox took an early 1-0 lead over the Titans (17-5) when junior Erik Smoy (Hoffman Estates, IL, Hoffman Estates) singled home a run in the top of the first inning. The Prairie Fire made it 2-0 on an RBI double by Smoy in the second inning.
Wesleyan scored on an error in the bottom of the third to cut the Knox lead to 2-1. The Prairie Fire reclaimed a two run lead at 3-1 on a sac fly by junior Michael Belitz (Sheboygan, WI, North) that scored senior Kyle Walenga (San Francisco, CA, Waldorf) in the top of the fifth inning.
The Titans chipped away, plating a run in the sixth and another in the seventh to tie the contest at 3-3 before Knox put the game away in the next inning.
Senior Gabe Ayers (Hanna City, IL, Farmington) tossed 1 1/3 innings of one hit relief to pick up the win.
Smoy finished the game with two hits, two RBIs, and one run scored. Schroeder was 3-for-4 at the plate while junior Phil Tallman (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) and senior Ryan Hoffman (Sugar Grove, IL, Marmion Academy) each had two hits and scored a run for the Prairie Fire.
Knox outhit Illinois Wesleyan 13-12.
The Titans entered the game 3-0 against Midwest Conference teams and hadn't lost since a March 23 setback at Washington University (MO). Wesleyan defeated St. Norbert College 2-1 and swept Beloit College in a doubleheader 9-1 and 10-0 earlier this season.