Ellsworth Sports Information
Cedar Rapids, IA – Ellsworth baseball (15-10, 2-2 ICCAC) knocked off its second ranked opponent of the year, defeating No. 19-ranked Kirkwood (18-9, 3-1 ICCAC) in the opening game of a three-game ICCAC series. The Panthers would drop the second game setting up a rubber match in Iowa Falls at 2:00 PM on Monday. The Saturday doubleheader was originally scheduled to be played in Iowa Falls but late-winter snow last week forced the change to allow the home field more time to settle.
In Saturday's opener, it was a 1-1 stalemate through the first four-and-a-half innings. The scoring was opened in the bottom of the second when Ellsworth, playing as the designated home team, homered via Maddox O'Connor's lead-off home run to left field. Kirkwood would answer in the top of the third with a game-tying home run to center.
Two full innings would pass before pinch-hitter Dylan Phelps knocked in Connor MacAlpine on an RBI single. Two batters later Brandon Weigel scored Sam Patton on a RBI infield single. Eric McGill would get Weigel home on a two-run shot to left field. Boston Doeschot closed out the five-run inning with a solo trip of his own, his fourth home run in the prior two games, giving the Panthers a 6-1 advantage.
Dillon Carlson expanded the lead with sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 6th to score MacAlpine and make the score 7-1 Ellsworth. The Eagles would get a solo home run in the seventh but the Casey Clair otherwise held the No. 19-ranked team in-check with five strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work, following Doeschot's eight strikeouts in the first 4.2 innings of play.
In the second game, Kirkwood jumped to an early 2-0 lead before expanding it to 8-0 after four. The Panther bullpen otherwise held the Eagles in check, as the four Ellsworth pitchers that saw action combined for 13 strikeouts.
Ellsworth still has an opportunity for a series win over a ranked opponent on Monday as the Panthers and Eagles will battle for the third and final time this regular season with a 2:00 PM first pitch in Iowa Falls.
