Chargers Earn Split at Joliet Thanks to Clutch Hits from Ard, Figueroa

  Aaron Frey
  Monday, March 27, 2017 10:06 AM
  Athletics

Joliet

Nolan Ard (Carthage, Ill./Illini West) and Angel Figueroa (East Chicago, Ind./Bishop Noll) delivered clutch hits in the seventh inning of Game 1 to help the Carl Sandburg College baseball team split a doubleheader at Joliet on Sunday.

Ard and Figueroa came through with the tying and game-winning hits in the seventh as the Chargers rallied for an 8-7 victory before being shut out 3-0 in Game 2.

JJC broke a 6-6 deadlock with a run in the sixth, but Sandburg (11-8) came back in the seventh. Ard’s one-out single to left tied the game at 7, and, after a hit by pitch moved the tying run to scoring position, Figueroa knocked a single to center to bring Ard home with the go-ahead run.

Chargers starter Matt Trouten (Moline, Ill./Moline) worked around a leadoff walk in the bottom half to finish off the complete-game victory and even his record at 2-2.

Sandburg fell behind 4-0 after three innings but got on the board thanks to a three-run homer from third baseman Mitchell Ellison (East Moline, Ill./United Township) in the fourth. Ellison finished 2 for 4 with four RBIs, and center fielder Levi Brening (Coon Rapids, Minn./DuQuoin) scored twice and drove in two runs.

The Chargers were blanked on just two hits in Game 2 despite a strong outing on the mound from Brening. The freshman allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings, striking out three and walking two. He and JJC’s Connor Creed were locked in a pitcher’s duel before the Wolves score three two-out runs in the fifth.

Brening doubled for Sandburg’s lone extra-base hit of the game. Jordan Chandler (Erie, Ill./Erie) went 1 for 2 with a walk.

The Chargers’ next action is a nine-inning contest against Southeastern (Iowa) at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the William “Bill” Hungate Baseball/Softball Complex.

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Press Contact

Aaron Frey
afrey@sandburg.edu
3093415301

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