Parkside baseball completed their four-game sweep over the Upper Iowa Peacocks on Sunday afternoon. Six Rangers went deep in the series, and the team outscored Upper Iowa 42-16 over the four games.
GAME 1: Parkside 14, Upper Iowa 3
The bats started out hot for both teams in the first inning of game one. The Rangers scored four, courtesy of an RBI single from junior
Carlos Arteaga, then a three-run home run from junior
Dominic Esposito, his third in as many games. The Peacocks responded in the bottom half with a two-run home run, and a solo home run to bring the game to 4-3.
The trend of scoring with the long ball continued in the third inning when sophomore Noah Tyrell hit a three-run shot to push the lead to 7-3. Tyrell once again drove in a run in his next at-bat in the fifth inning, this time a ground ball that scored Arteaga. Freshmen
Bryce Brogni got in on the home run parade in the same inning with a two-run home run to push the lead to seven, 10-3. Parkside pushed across their final four runs in the top of the seventh. It was a four-run, five-hit inning with RBIs from Tyrell,
Reece Homan, and
Kurt Mlachnik.
After surrendering three runs in the first, the pitching staff shut down the Peacock offense with six straight scoreless frames. Starter
Jake Macaluso pitched 2.1 of those scoreless innings, and junior
Mikey Lenher threw the final 3.2 innings.
Tyrell played a big part in the run production with a team leading five RBI. Esposito drove in three, and went 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored. Other Rangers with strong offensive performances in game one were Arteaga (3-for-4) and junior
Hunter Weddel (3-for-5).
GAME 2: Parkside 10, Upper Iowa 6
Esposito kicked off the scoring for the Rangers in the top of the first with his team leading tenth RBI, a double to left field that scored graduate student
Casey Oliver. Parkside added two more in the next inning on a home run from senior
Ricky West. The hosts cut the Parkside lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the third on a two RBI double off of Parkside starter Weddel.
Redshirt-junior
Nicholas Eisenmenger got one back on a solo shot to center field in the fourth. However, the Peacocks responded instantly in the bottom half, with a two-run home run to tie the game at 4-4. Brogni broke the tie in the fifth with his second home run of the day, a two-run shot that put the Rangers up 6-4.
Upper Iowa continued to fight and once again tied the game up after a two-run sixth. Parkside once again broke the tie in the eighth after a bases loaded walk from Oliver that gave them a 7-6 lead. Going into the ninth inning, graduate student
Austin Emanuel had thrown 2.2 scoreless innings, but the Rangers knew insurance runs would go a long way towards a win. They got a few of them on an Eisenmenger three-run home run, his second of the game and third on the year.
Eisenmenger's big game fueled the Parkside offense, he went 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI. Tyrell was the only other Ranger with multiple hits in the contest (2-for-5).
WHAT'S NEXT
The Green & White won't have to wait long to try to extend their win streak, as they'll head to Hillsdale for a doubleheader on Wednesday, March 11 at Noon & 2:30 p.m. After, the team will continue their season opening road-trip at Purdue Northwest for a four-game set on March 14-15.
