MARION, Ill. – The Parkland College Baseball team continued its winning ways on Sunday, March 5th, as the Cobras took down South Suburban College 7-6 and Harper College 13-0 on the team’s final day at the Rent One Invitational in Marion, Illinois. Parkland opened the day with a back-and-forth, walk-off win over the South Suburban Bulldogs (7-5) before shutting out Harper College (0-4) to win a sixth straight game. The Cobras outhit their opponents 18-5 on Sunday, and sophomore Carter Monke struck out 14 batters in his second win of the season.
Up next, the Cobras travel to Belleville, Illinois, to face Southwestern Illinois College tomorrow, March 6th, for the team’s fourth game in three days. First pitch against the Blue Storm (10-5) is scheduled for 1:30 PM on Monday.
Game 1: Parkland College 7, South Suburban College 6
The Cobras led 4-0 in the bottom of the 1st after Tyler Herron (1-3, RBI, 2 R, BB) drove in Jackson Blemler (2-4, R, 2B) and Chase Becker (2-4, 5 RBI, HR) launched a two-out, 3-run home run. The Bulldogs got a run back in the 2nd inning, but a Jake Vitale (2-4, RBI, R) RBI single in the bottom half gave Parkland a 5-1 lead. South Suburban rallied to take a 6-5 lead in the top of the 3rd as Parkland’s offense went cold. The Cobras still trailed by one in the bottom of the 5th until Vitale scored on an error and tied the game at 6-6. In the bottom of the 7th, Parkland loaded the bases on three walks, and Becker grounded a single into left field to score Herron, giving the Cobras a 7-6 win over the Bulldogs.
Sophomore Alex Pipes (2.1 IP, 1 H, 5 ER, 6 BB) started the game for Parkland, striking out two batters in his third appearance. Sophomore Jacob Young (2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) relieved Pipes in the third inning, and freshman Will O’Gorman (1-0) earned the win in relief, allowing zero hits and zero runs over two innings, striking out four in two innings of work.
Game 2: Parkland College 9, Harper College 6
Parkland got off to a 6-0 lead in the 2nd inning, and an Angelo Luna (2-2, 3 RBI, HR, 3 R, BB) solo home run in the 3rd extended the Cobras’ lead to seven. The team drove in six more runs in the bottom of the 4th, and Parkland made quick work of Harper College in a five-inning 13-0 win.
Sophomore Carter Monke (2-0) pitched five innings of shutout ball, allowing just one hit and striking out 14 in the win. Seven different Cobras recorded an RBI as the team tallied 13 runs on just seven hits to defeat the Hawks for the second time in two days.
