DECATUR, Ill. – The No. 16 ranked Parkland College Baseball team picked up a dramatic road win against the Millikin University JV squad on Wednesday, April 19th, defeating the Big Blue 2-1 in 11 innings. The Cobras (30-8) snatched a 2-1 lead on a Charlie Marisca RBI single in the top of the 11th, and freshmen pitcher Sebastian Gutierrez struck out the side to earn his second career win; the team’s seventh in a row. Parkland has now won eight straight games against Millikin JV, dating back to April 12th, 2017.
No. 16 Parkland College 2, Millikin University JV 1
The Cobras took the lead when catcher Tyler Herron successfully stole home in the top of the 2nd inning, but the Big Blue evened the score in the bottom of the 5th. Parkland struggled with leaving runners in scoring position early, and Millikin’s pitching locked in down the stretch, but the Cobras finally broke through when Charlie Marisca drove in Nate Bingman in the 11th, giving the team the 2-1 win.
Starting pitcher Gehrig Wright (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K) was replaced by Freddie Elftmann (3.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) in the 2nd inning, and freshman Hunter Pudlo (4.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 12 K) made his third appearance of the season in the 6th. Sebastian Gutierrez (2-2) earned the win, striking out the side in his ninth relief appearance.
Up next, the Cobras hit the road for a conference doubleheader at Illinois Central College on Saturday, April 22nd. First pitch against the Cougars (13-21) will be at noon in East Peoria.
