The Illinois Tech Baseball team hosted Elmhurst College on a windy and rainy May 2. After fighting back to take a lead after trailing for most of the contest, the Bluejays sent the game to extra innings and won the contest 7-6 in 10 frames.

How it Happened

• After an early Elmhurst run, the Scarlet Hawks tied things at 1-1 in the second inning on an RBI single by Neal Shah.
• Illinois Tech starter Kyle Bumpass coasted through the next few innings, but Elmhurst tacked on two unearned runs in the top of the fifth thanks to two fielding errors from the Scarlet Hawks.
• Elmhurst added one more in the top of the seventh, tallying three hits in the inning as the Bluejays took a 4-1 lead.
• In the bottom of the seventh Illinois Tech’s offensive fortune changed. After a leadoff walk from pinch-hitter Spencer Scalzi, three singles in a row from DJ Rybski, Bumpass, and Jonathon Wilcox resulted in a run for the Scarlet Hawks.
• Two batters later, Orlando Cardenas-Juan laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to plate the run and avoid an out, making it a one-run game. Christian Lopez followed with an RBI hit-by-pitch before Shah hit a sacrifice fly to give the Scarlet Hawks a 5-4 lead.
• An RBI double in the top of the eighth tied the score for the Bluejays. Elmhurst left the bases loaded in the top of the ninth while the Scarlet Hawks left a combined four runners on in the eighth and ninth innings (including a runner on third in the ninth) to bring the game to extra innings.
• Elmhurst loaded the bases to start the top of the tenth and ended up scoring twice in the inning to give the team a 7-5 lead.
• The Scarlet Hawks made noise in the bottom of the tenth. After a Rybski leadoff single and a Bumpass walk, a two-out single from Cardenas-Juan drove Rybski in from second and moved Bumpass to third. Lopez hit a deep fly ball to left field to end the contest.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Bumpass was magnificent, tossing nine innings while allowing just three earned runs. He struck out eight while also going two-for-four with a run and two walks at the plate.
• Both Cardenas-Juan (two-for-five, run, walk) and Shah (one-for-three, sac fly, walk) drove in two runs and stole a base.
• Rybski (two-for-six) had a multi-hit game in the leadoff spot.
• Lopez was one-for-four with two stolen bases and an RBI.

Stats to Know

• The two teams left a whopping 30 runners on base, 15 for each team.
• Errors proved to be the difference in the game, as Illinois Tech committed four compared to none for Elmhurst.
• The four Illinois Tech errors led to two unearned runs.

Up Next

• Illinois Tech will play the first of four consecutive games against the University of Chicago on Friday, May 5 at 3 p.m. at Ed Glancy Field. Live audio, video, and stats will be available. The live audio will be powered by Illinois Media School.