Bartlett dumps Elgin to stop skid
Bartlett's 7-6 Upstate Eight crossover win at Elgin on Saturday was like a cold drink of water in the desert for a baseball team that had slipped to .500 after losing 3 straight and 7 of 8.
Meanwhile, an eighth straight loss left Elgin thirsting for similar relief.
Bartlett (11-10, 8-6) scored 3 first-inning runs and jumped to a 4-0 lead after an inning and a half, but Elgin (6-18, 2-11) got back in the game with a steady trickle of 6 runs over the next four innings against Hawks starting pitcher Vince Searson (3 IP, 3 ER) and reliever Matt Johnson (2 IP, 3 R, 2 ER).
Bartlett wasn't in the clear until junior left-hander Shane Donovan stopped the leaky faucet with 2 scoreless relief innings to earn the save.
"Coming off a (4-game) losing streak and two series losses in a row, it was really important to get that win regardless of the score or the effort we put in," said Bartlett shortstop Cory Krolikowski, who went 2-for-3 with a run-scoring triple. "This win was big, really big."
The Hawks scored 3 times in the first inning against Elgin starting pitcher Clay White (1-5), thanks to a run-scoring single from Myles Zilinsky and a two-out Elgin throwing error that allowed 2 runs to score.
"We've got to have the mentality coming in that we're ready to win, not just compete," said White, who was charged with 7 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits over 6 innings. "We can't make mental mistakes and errors like we did in the first inning."
Elgin trimmed the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the second when Rigoberto Sanchez singled in a run and another scored on a wild pitch from Bartlett starting pitcher Vince Searson (1-2).
The Hawks got those runs right back in the third inning. Leadoff man Tripp Paris singled, Michael Pfaender reached on an error and right-handed hitter Jordan Flint followed with a 2-run double to make it 6-2.
"I just kept my shoulders closed and went to right field," said Flint, a future Eastern Illinois Panther. "We worked on oppo hitting all day (Friday) in practice. I just found a fastball knee high and outside and had to take it that way."
Trailing 7-3, the Maroons scored twice in the fourth inning, keyed by Scotty Palmer's RBI groundout.
They added another run in the fifth via White's RBI single to draw within a run. However, with the bases loaded, Johnson induced a flyout to left off the bat of Tom Sobeski to end the threat.
Donovan didn't play it as close to the edge in his two innings of relief. An Elgin baserunner reached second base with two outs in the sixth, but a strikeout ended that chance. Elgin's 8-9-1 hitters went down in order in the bottom of the seventh.
"I just thought I'd go in there and throw a couple of groundballs, get my teammates involved and have them make good plays out there for me," said Donovan, who retired 6 of the 7 hitters he faced.