Chargers Sweep Sauk Valley as Blackford Collects 3 Homers
Aaron Frey
Wednesday, April 3, 2019 9:32 AM
Athletics
Dixon, IL
Braedon Blackford popped three home runs on the day as the Carl Sandburg College baseball team won a pair of blowouts against Sauk Valley, 10-3 and 22-7, on Tuesday afternoon in the Chargers’ Arrowhead Conference opener.
GAME 1
Sandburg 10, Sauk Valley 3
Sandburg 004 132 0 — 10 9 5
Sauk Valley 000 120 0 — 3 5 2
W: Jackson Porter (4-0) 6 IP, 9 K, 1 BB
L: Jake Williams 4 IP, 6 K, 2 BB
Key Moment
The Chargers (8-6-1, 2-0) opened the scoring in the third inning on a grand slam from Jordan Chandler (Erie, Ill./Erie), and they went on to lead 8-1 after their half of the fifth. Hunter Darst (Avon, Ill./Abingdon-Avon) led off the third with a double, and Isaac Riegler (McLean, Ill./Olympia) and Blackford drew back-to-back one-out walks to load the bases. After Wynn Takacs (Tipton, Ind./Taylor) popped up for the second out, Chandler smacked the first pitch he saw over the center field fence for his fourth home run of the season and a 4-0 lead.
Sandburg Standout
Blackford finished the game 2 for 3 with a pair of homers, a walk, three runs and four RBIs. His two-run homer in the fifth put Sandburg up 7-1, and he added another two-run blast in the sixth for the final score.
Other Top Chargers
- Chandler 2 for 4, double, grand glam
- Riegler 1 for 2, walk, three runs
- Jackson Porter (LaHarpe, Ill./Illini West) 6 innings, three runs (one earned), four hits, nine strikeouts, one walk
GAME 2
Sandburg 22, Sauk Valley 7 (5 innings)
Sandburg 860 17 — 22 23 3
Sauk Valley 001 06 — 7 7 2
W: Nolan Struhs (1-1) 4 IP, 8 K, 2 BB
L: Alex Eckhardt 1 IP, 0 K, 1 BB
Key Moments
The Chargers put up eight runs in the first and led by two touchdowns after two innings. Blackford’s two-run homer capped the scoring in the first, and Chandler led off the second with a shot to right that started a six-run rally. Seven Sandburg batters finished with multiple hits as the Chargers scored a season-best 22 runs on 23 hits.
Sandburg Standout
Designated hitter Kevin Ulrich went 4 for 5 with three runs and four RBIs. The sophomore singled in his first three at-bats and doubled in the fifth inning. His only blemish was a groundout to end the fifth inning that prevented him from collecting a five-hit game.
Other Top Chargers
- Blackford 1 for 2, walk, two-run home run, two runs, three RBIs
- Takacs 2 for 2, double, run, RBI
- Chandler 2 for 3, home run, two runs, two RBIs
- Antonio Dominguez (Rock Island, Ill./United Township) 2 for 4, walk, double, two runs, two RBIs
- Noah Hoepfner (East Moline, Ill./United Township) 2 for 2, two runs, two RBIs
- Jonah Burt (LaHarpe, Ill./Illini West) 2 for 3, double, run, two RBIs
- Tyler Webb (Peoria Heights, Ill./Peoria Heights) 3 for 4, three runs
- Greyson Durbin (Colona, Ill./United Township) 1 for 2, run, two RBIs
UP NEXT
The Chargers host Illinois Central in a nine-inning game at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Follow Sandburg Baseball on GameChanger