VERONA – The Edgewood College Eagles baseball squad hosted a Senior Day doubleheader Saturday for their Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) finale. They battled with the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks. The Eagles (23-16, 14-9 NACC) outlasted the Scarlet Hawks (19-19, 12-10) in a tense 11-10 (11 inning) game one before they poured it on in a 17-5 (7 inning) rout.

GAME ONE: EDGEWOOD COLLEGE 11, ILLINOIS TECH 10 (11 INNINGS)
- The Scarlet Hawks struck first in the first. A trio of singles brought in a trio of runs for a 3-0 lead. Aidan Williams would settle in after, holding them scoreless for the next two innings.

- The Eagles landed a haymaker in the third. A walk with the bases loaded put them on the board before Dylan Carrington sent a monster shot into left field for a grand slam. Illinois Tech would continue their strong offensive showing, a pair of doubles in the fourth and fifth tying things at 5 after four and a half.

- Edgewood College grabbed back momentum in their next two trips to the plate. An error handed them back the lead in the fifth. Kyle Sagan doubled down the right field line to tally one while Connor Goodwin followed up with a single to right field to take an 8-5 lead.

- The Scarlet Hawks swiped momentum right back. A sacrifice fly in the seventh was matched by a Ryan Ambrosy single in the seventh, but Illinois Tech swung things right back in their favor with a grand slam to left field in the eighth for a 10-9 lead.

- Daniel Bentivegna singled in a run with the bases loaded in the eighth. The Eagles had a prime opportunity to win in the ninth with a pair of walks loading the bases with one out, but a strikeout and a groundout forced extras.

- Conner Dunfee stepped up in a big way on his Senior Day, tossing three innings of one-hit scoreless ball with three strikeouts to silence a tough Illinois Tech lineup. The Edgewood College lineup finally took advantage, as a Connor Goodwin single bunt helped Sagan score off of a throwing error from the pitcher to walk it off.

- Sagan continued his strong streak of play. He hit four-of-five with a walk and three runs. Goodwin hit three-of-six, while Carson Richter and Ambrosy also posted multi-hit games.

GAME TWO: EDGEWOOD COLLEGE 17, ILLINOIS TECH 5 (7 INNINGS)
- Both teams went after it after a quiet first inning. The Scarlet Hawks put three unearned on board in the second with help from Eagles errors with a fielder's choice to short, a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher, and a double to left center.

- Edgewood College swung things back around in the bottom of the frame. Ambrosy grounded out to score a run, while Sagan continued his strong day with a two-RBI double to left center. Goodwin wrapped up the scoring in the second. A sacrifice fly followed by a double down the left field line left things at 5-4 Illinois Tech after three.

- The Eagles broke the game wide open with a 10-run fourth. Kalafut sent a two-run shot over the trees in right field to kick off the scoring. Brooks Kalscheur singled up the middle and Ambrosy to the pitcher to score a run each. A throwing error by the first baseman kicked off a spree of unearned runs. Goodwin reached on an error and scored one run while the error sent in another. Prindle walked in a run while Carrington continued his strong day with a two-RBI single up the middle to leave it at 14-5.

- Edgewood College tacked on insurance runs for the run rule in the fifth, as a ten-run lead after seven innings would automatically give them the victory. A sacrifice fly from Sagan tallied one, while Goodwin singled to right for another run. A fielder's choice to first from Prindle finalized the 17-5 tally.

- Dominic Rizzotto came on in relief on Senior Day and fanned two in the seventh inning to close out the run rule victory. Gavin Vrana earned the victory in the start. He threw five innings in the game and shut down the Scarlet Hawks with no hits and no runs after the first three innings pitched.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Sagan broke the single-season record for runs in the first game of the doubleheader. He surpassed the previous record of 54 set by Jimy Landwehr in 2010 and currently sits at 58 runs.

- The doubleheader celebrated the accomplishments of seniors Kalafut, Anthony Schatz, Kyle Jungers, Rizzotto, Leo Stone, Cooper Holewinski, Jared Pit, Dunfee, Garrett Redner, Nick Holland, Nick Manthei, and Nathan Barge.

- Kalafut has a knack for the long ball lately. His last four games have featured three home runs. He also walked four times in the first game of the doubleheader.

- The Eagles hold a 7-3 lead in the series against Illinois Tech and have won four straight.

- Edgewood College has won five in a row after their six-game losing streak.

UP NEXT
The Eagles have wrapped up their current regular season schedule with the victory. They clinched a bid to their second-straight NACC Baseball Tournament and the fourth seed with the results on Saturday. They will play on Thursday, May 11 at Kapco Park  in Mequon, Wis. at 1:00 p.m. with their opponent to be determined