Griffins down Principia twice
Elsah, Ill. - Fontbonne baseball secured two wins at Principia Saturday. The Griffins earned wins from Austin Earnest and Devon Tolan along with a save from Tyler Scott to take Fontbonne's SLIAC record to 3-4 and overall record of 8-13. The Griffins will host Robert Morris-Springfield on Wednesday in a doubleheader starting at 5:00 p.m. They will then play a non-conference matchup at WashU on Saturday starting at noon.
Game one
Earnest threw his first complete-game to earn his fourth win of the season as he struck out 13 in the seven-inning contest.
Fontbonne loaded the bases in the second and scored on a groundout to second. Principia retaliated with a leadoff triple and sac fly to tie the game. The Boyer brothers scored two for the Griffins in the fourth inning. Aaron Boyer doubled to score Logan Meuth who led off with a single. Ethan Boyer then reached on an error in right field that scored an unearned run from Jackson Penrod.
The Panthers led off with a walk and proceeded to steal second, which paid off as the second batter doubled to cut Fontbonne's lead to one. Fontbonne was able to extend their lead back to two on a seventh-inning sacrifice bunt that scored Ethan Boyer after an error from Principia's pitcher. The Panthers tried to make a comeback win with a leadoff walk in the seventh. After two outs, two singles scored their third run but Earnest ended the inning with a strikeout looking.
Meuth led Fontbonne at the plate with two hits on three at-bats while Aaron Boyer tallied two RBI's.
Game two
Fontbonne got on the board in their opening round at the plate. A leadoff hit-by-pitch allowed Ethan Boyer to get to second thanks to a sac bunt from freshman Matt Tossick. Ben Greenway walked and with one out, designated hitter Justin Marks singled to drive in Boyer. Fontbonne's starting pitcher Devon Tolan got into some trouble out of the gate with a leadoff double who was then scored on the next at-bat on a triple. Principia took the lead in the ensuing play on a groundout. Tolan got into a groove and struck out seven Panthers over the next three innings and after a quiet fifth inning the Griffins tied the game. Two singles followed by two outs still gave outfielder Evan Lloyd a chance to drive in Marks on second. Lloyd secured the RBI on a single.
Fontbonne then opened the seventh with three runs on a hit-by-pitch, three walks and a single. With the bases loaded and one out, Principia kept a run at bay with a fielder's choice to home, but the winning run was walked in as Logan Meuth advanced on base on balls. Nick Kenny pinch hit in the eight-hole and singled to score give Fontonne a 5-2 lead.
Principia got on base in the seventh inning on an error which eventually scored on a sacrifice fly. Tyler Scott came in and earned the save for Fontbonne, striking out two in three innings of work. Tolan is now 3-0 on the year after striking out 12 Panthers over six innings.
Marks went two-of-three in the game and two walks with two runs scored and one RBI. Meuth walked twice as well.