Griffins Sweep Past Blackburn For Its Fifth Straight Win

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University baseball team extended its winning streak out to five after a 10-2 and an 8-3 victory over Blackburn on Wednesday night.

Fontbonne 10 Blackburn 2

In game one, the Griffins (19-15; 11-6 SLIAC) bats stayed hot early-and-often. Jackson Penrod led the team with a game-high four RBI. Michael Golich, Matt Tossick and Jonathan Hoevelmann added two hits each.

On the bump, Michael Puckett Jr., picked up his second win on the season after going 6.0 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and struck out one.

Blackburn (9-25; 6-12 SLIAC), never got its offense going against Puckett Jr. On the mound, though Isaac Garrett took the loss after allowing 10 runs (seven earned) in 4.2 innings of work.

In the first, Golich got things started with a triple down the right field line. He went on to easily score on Gus Purschke's double to right-center. Two batters later, Purschke came on home on Puckett Jr., RBI ground-out to make it 2-0.

In the second, after two singles, two ground-outs and a hit-by-pitch, the bases were loaded for Penrod. He came through with a line drive double down the left field line, clearing the bases and extending the lead out to 5-0. The team added another run later in the inning on a Beavers error.

From there, the team scored one in the fourth and three more in the fifth en route to the eight-run victory.

Fontbonne 8 Blackburn 3

In game two, it was more of the same story with the offense scattering 14 hits in the win. Golich continues to swing a hot bat as he extended his hitting streak out to 15 and has reached safely in his last 24 games after going 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

Purschke homered for the first time this year to finish 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Matt Tossick also extended his hit streak to seven. On the bump, John Hughes earned his first win on the year after going 5.0 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) and struck out six.

The Beavers got its RBI off the bat of Dalton Fisher and Brandon Smith. Starter Brady Wilkinson was dealt the loss as he allowed six runs (three earned) in 6.1 innings.

In the first, Purschke gave Fontbonne a 1-0 lead on his solo shot over the left field wall. From there, though the Beavers scored two in the second and another in the third to take a 3-1 advantage.

The scoreboard remained the same up until the bottom of the fifth. The Griffins posted three runs on three hits, capped off by Puckett Jr., two RBI double down the left field line and now the Griffins led 4-3.

It was all Fontbonne the rest of the way. An RBI from Evan Siegler in the sixth and another from Ryan Schocker in the seventh gave them a 6-3 advantage. They plated two more runs in the eighth and that was enough to go on for the five-run win.

The team returns to action this weekend in a key series against Westminster with a playoff spot likely on the line. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by a single nine-inning contest on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the baseball team.