Offense Comes Alive in Baseball's Sweep of Illinois

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Mitchell College baseball team swept a doubleheader from Illinois College on Sunday by final scores of 12-6 and 25-0 at the Cusic Classic.

After a slow start to the season Mitchell's offense finally kicked into gear. The Mariners, who produced only three runs on five hits in a two-game set against Otterbein, hit up Illinois College for 37 runs on 23 hits. Jeremy Santos and Steven Pagan each had two hits in the opener, and Garet Griffin went 3-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI in the second game. 

Game 1 - Mitchell 12, Illinois 6

The Mariners jumped on top early with five runs in the second inning. Mitchell loaded the bases with no outs and then watched as the Illinois pitching staff allowed runs on a walk, wild pitch and two hit batters. Pagan plated the final run of the frame with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Kyle Hartenstein.  

Mitchell eventually built the lead to as many as 12, adding two runs in the third and five more in the sixth. The Blueboys got five runs back in the home half of the sixth and added another in the seventh, but the deficit was too much to overcome.

Mitchell starter Jakari Pellegrini tossed 5.0 scoreless innings and struck out five while allowing only two hits. He improved to 1-0 on the season.

Game 2 - Mitchell 25, Illinois 0

The Mariners kept the runs coming in the second game, scoring 10 times in the first inning en route to a 23-0 lead after three. Illinois starter Tyler Lewis issued eight walks and recorded only one out in the opening frame. The Blueboys went to the bullpen in favor of Jake Schippert, who got off to a rocky start by allowing a bases-loaded double to Hartenstein that brought in three runs. Griffin then followed with a two-bagger of his own to score Hartenstein, and the rout was on.  

Drew Daley got the starting nod and earned his first career victory, striking out one over 3.0 innings before turning the ball over to the bullpen. Eric Redente, Michael Gonzalez, Luke Nerney and Joevanni Torres each tossed a shutout inning of relief as the Mariners sewed up their third straight win.

The 25 runs were the most scored by the Mariners since a 27-11 victory over Becker College in the 2014 NECC Championship. The 25-run margin of victory is also the largest in the seven-year tenure of head coach Travis Beausoleil.